Trial of 5 Somali nationals suspected of piracy opens at Seychelles Supreme Court

Only three out of the five Somali suspects appeared in court on Monday while the other two are receiving medical assistance. (Rassin Vannier)

By: Salifa Karapetyan Edited by: Betymie Bonnelame

(Seychelles News Agency) – Four witnesses from the Seychelles Police Force presented their evidence Monday as the trial of five Somali nationals suspected of a pirate attack against a Korean fishing vessel began at the Supreme Court.

According to the EU NAVFOR, the incident began on April 19, 2019 when five suspected pirates captured a Yemeni dhow off the coast of Somalia. Two days later the pirates attacked the Korean fishing vessel Adria with the dhow acting as a mothership in the Indian Ocean some 280 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.

On April 23, the EU NAVFOR‘s flagship ESPS NAVARRA intercepted and boarded the captured dhow vessel and apprehended the five suspected pirates. The forces said that it was the first notable piracy incident event since October 2018, a huge drop in frequency compared to a decade earlier when Somali piracy interrupted international shipping and travel on a major scale.

The prosecutor in the case, Georges Thachett, told SNA that “we have a fair amount of evidence but it is up to the court to decide the outcome.”

The lawyer representing the Somalis, Joel Camille, told SNA that the local witnesses are expected to be heard until Thursday when witnesses overseas would connect via video link. Only then, Camile said, would he know how the case for his clients was going.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta transferred the five suspects to Seychellois authorities last year in accordance with a transfer agreement between the Seychelles and the European Union with support from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Present at the hearing was a representative of the UNODC whose duty is to look after the welfare of the accused and ensure that there is a fair legal process.

Camille said the case was supposed to start last Monday but the prosecution were unable to bring in their witnesses.

“The court gave them until last Friday when they advised the court that they will start their case today,” he added.

Seychelles is east of the Somali coast and has placed itself at the forefront of the fight against piracy since 2005 when the scourge began expanding, adversely impacting the nation’s tourism and fishing industries, the top pillars of its economy. The island nation in the western Indian Ocean has since then been working with international partners to apprehend and prosecute suspected Somali pirates.

Somaliland and Seychelles signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the transfer of sentenced pirates in 2011. With special jurisdiction to handle piracy and maritime crime cases, Seychelles started hearing cases in June 2015.

Source: seychellesnewsagency.com

Nigeria’s Deep Blue Project: Who, What, and Why it Matters to the Gulf of Guinea

by Kelly Moss

In a year of unabated insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea, one of the most welcomed maritime security-oriented acts of 2019 was Nigeria’s establishment of its Deep Blue Project. The Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, otherwise known as the Deep Blue Project (DBP), aims to comprehensively address insecurity and criminality in Nigeria’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. The means of the DBP involve the acquisition of assets, (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles and fast intervention vessels), development of infrastructure (e.g., new command and control centers), interagency information-sharing, and enhanced training of security services, among other things. According to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), between August 2019 and June 2020, 80 percent of the necessary assets had been delivered and the Command, Control, Computer Communication, and Information Centre (C4i) was officially launched at NIMASA’s base in Kirikiri, Lagos.

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Source: stableseas.org

South Africa is ready to help Mozambique with its insurgency

South Africa is ready to help insurgency-hit Mozambique with support from its intelligence services or military, but its neighbour would first need to request that help, South African foreign minister Naledi Pandor said on Wednesday.

Pandor told a parliamentary committee that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) had asked Mozambique to provide a roadmap on the assistance it might need, which would then be deliberated upon before a course of action was chosen.

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Source: defenceweb.co.za

MDAD-GoG issues piracy alert

In an unusual step, MDAT-GoG, the agency which monitors piracy and maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, has issued the following alert to shipping:

Description: Information from military source indicate an armed group from Rivers State, NIGERIA are planning a piracy attack against vessels in area D (especially Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea) since the 1st of September. It is likely the attack will occur at low tide, when the monitoring units are missing. Therefore, you are requested to be on maximum alert, to increase vigilance and surveillance and intensify intelligence both on the water and in the port. Systematically identify and search all suspicious boats coming from or leaving Nigeria. Report any suspicions and take into account any diversion.

New PH Navy assets to beef up capabilities vs. lawless elements

By Priam Nepomuceno

MANILA – The Philippine Navy (PN) on Tuesday said the arrival of new patrol assets will greatly enhance its patrol capabilities and prevent terrorists and other criminals from sneaking in.

“This situation will be best addressed through the modernization of our assets that we are now continuously pursuing, particularly the acquisition of the Philippine Fleet’s Fast Attack Interdiction Craft (FAIC) project and the Philippine Marine Corps’ Combat Raid and Interdiction Boats as well as its Small Unit Riverine Craft (SURC),” PN chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said.

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Source: pna.gov.ph

India, Nigeria resolve to deepen cooperation to counter terrorism, piracy

India and Nigeria on Tuesday vowed to deepen cooperation to counter terrorism, insurgency and piracy while also boosting trade exchanges as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with his Nigerian counterpart Geoffrey Onyeama.

The two foreign ministers discussed the entire gamut of India-Nigeria bilateral relations via video conferencing.

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Source: business-standard.com

ESSZone curfew extended until September 17th

KOTA KINABALU-The confinement order in the waters of seven districts in the eastern zone of Sabah (ESSZone) which ended at 6 pm this day was extended until September 17.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali said orders that prohibit the community in the area are involved out of the house or enter the waters of Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, Sandakan and Beluran to take effect from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.

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Source: sinarharian.com.my

Maritime piracy in Mexico… a ticking time bomb.

MEXICO CITY (Informex) – Communication equipment, diving equipment, tools, wiring, metal caps, navigation instruments, watches, cell phones, and even wallets, stolen by groups of pirates from oil platforms and ships that sail in the probe of Campeche, Dos Bocas, and Veracruz, are offered through the Internet, as well as in local markets and flea markets in the State of Mexico, Tabasco, Queretaro and Iztapalapa in Mexico City.

According to a federal government report, organized crime groups operating at sea -to which Organización Editorial Mexicana had access- pirates have increased their illegal activity in Mexican seas for several years now, forcing the federal government to entrust the control of the country’s seaports to the Navy.

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Source: theyucatantimes.com

Italian marines won’t ‘suffer’ in Indian courts for killing Kerala fishermen, PCA ensures

Vanshaj Jain

The controversial case that involved the killing of two Kerala fishermen by two Italian marines onboard MV Enrica Lexie nearly eight years ago concluded on 31 May 2020, in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The implications of this decision, however, have gone largely unnoticed in India. Originally, only excerpts of this decision were released to the public, with the full arbitral award subject to a confidentiality review by the two nations.

The final award, published inconspicuously some weeks ago sans fanfare, presents a troubling picture. Departing from established doctrine and riddled with contradictions, the PCA’s award seems almost at pains to contrive a legal path to ensure that the Italian marines accused of murder do not have to ‘suffer’ through a trial in Indian courtrooms.

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Source: theprint.in

Tema: Marine Security On Wild Hunt For Kidnappers Of 2 South Korean Sailors

Ghana’s Maritime Security has intensified a wild hunt to clamp down on some alleged kidnappers of two sailors believed to be South Korean nationals.

Authorities believe that the two abducted sailors were attacked by some unidentified gunmen on the waters off Ghana.

The victims were reportedly onboard a Ghanaian-flagged fishing vessel, AP 703 when it was attacked 200 kilometers southeast of the coastal city of Tema Friday night.

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Source: modernghana.com