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Thursday, April 09, 2009 advertisements MOMBASA, Kenya, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Seven suspected Somali pirates appeared in a Mombasa court on Thursday and denied the piracy charges. The seven who were accused of attempting to capture a German ship off the coast of Yemen were charged with piracy in violation of section 69 of the penal code cap 63 laws of Kenya. The charges read that on March 29 on the high seas of the Indian Ocean, they were armed with offensive weapons and attacked a German navy supply ship endangering the lives of the crew members on board the vessel. The seven, identified as Musa Abdullahi Said, Mohammed Abdikadir Muhammed, Muhamed Isse Said, Mohamed Ahmed Yusuf, KhalifYusuf Farah, Mohammed Abdi Khalif, Ahmed Waesame Jama, were deniedbail and were remanded until April 15 when the ruling will be made on their bail application. The pirates had failed to seize the German supply vessel Spessart. The group was then transferred to the German frigate Rhineland-Pfalz. The pirates were tried in Kenya as part of an agreement reached with the European Union last month. The EU and Kenya agreed to transfer to the east African country suspected Somali pirates who are detained as part of the Atalanta mission. Somalia has not had a functioning legal system for years and would be unable to try the pirates. The suspects were picked up late last month by Greek and Spanish forces from a European anti-pirate unit off Somalia after they reportedly tried to capture the German oil tanker, the FGS Spessart, off southern Yemen. The group was then transferred to a German frigate, which arrived in Mombasa with the men shortly after 1030 GMT on Wednesday. The German navy handed over nine Somalis to Kenya early last month after capturing them as they allegedly tried to seize a freighter in the Gulf of Aden. Pirates typically hold the ships and crews until large ransoms are paid by the shipping companies. The attacks are threatening one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. |