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The Dutch want pirates in court

By Sebastiaan Gottlieb*

16-01-2009

The Netherlands aims to bring to trial five Somali pirates who recently attacked Dutch Antilles cargo ship Samanyulo in the Gulf of Aden. The Dutch Public Prosecutor's office told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that this means calling upon an article in the country's criminal code which has never before been used. Many countries are currently struggling to decide what to do with pirates after their capture.

On January 2, the crew had managed to foil an attack by firing flares at the small pirate vessel which then caught fire. The pirates jumped overboard and were later picked up by the Danish navy. Now the Netherlands has asked Denmark to extradite the pirates to bring them to justice.

Pirate law
Never before has anyone in the Netherlands been tried for piracy, which means that the country might soon see article 381 of the criminal code, which outlaws piracy, being put to use for the first time. According to this article, the captain of a pirate ship can be sentenced to up to 12 years, while crew members can receive up to nine years.

Wim de Bruin, a spokesperson for the Dutch Public Prosecutor's office, believes that in this case, the Somali pirates will be able to be tried based on this law. He says,

"This is about piracy and that is illegal in our criminal justice system. Because the merchant ship was sailing under a Netherlands Antilles flag, that means that the Netherlands can start preparing a case for trial."

Red tape
With a total of 111 attacks and 42 hijacked ships in 2008, the area along the Somali coast has seen a 200 per cent rise in piracy compared to the year before. Yet few countries are prepared to take the pirates to court, as there is a lot of legal red tape involved. Only France captured and imprisoned 12 pirates last year. The Danish navy released a group of pirates last year as the case fell outside of their legal jurisdiction. The British navy handed a number of Kenyan pirates to Kenya, which had promised to charge them.

The Netherlands will proceed with plans to try the pirates, but can the crew of the ship which was attacked also expect to be charged for firing flares? Ships that are attacked on the open seas have the right to defend themselves as long as they do not use excessive violence. The Dutch judge will have to determine whether firing flares at another ship can be deemed acceptable.

Drowning
There was an obligation to save the pirates after they had jumped overboard, says Wim de Bruin:

"If there had been no one else in the area, then the Samanyulo would have had to help anyone drowning in the water. This situation saw the involvement of both the attacked merchant ship and a Danish marine helicopter which fired several warning shots."

Denmark is expected to hand the pirates over to the Netherlands soon. The question remains whether the pirates can be sent back to Somalia after they have served their time in the Netherlands, should they indeed be sentenced.

 

*RNW translation (ah)

 

Tags: Dutch justice, piracy, Somalia

Reaction(s):

David Berridge, 17-01-2009 - Canada

This will be a benchmark case in how an old law is applied to a contempoary circumstance. The pirates of course should be tried by the Netherlands and be prepared to serve sentances under its laws. As for the crew of the ship being pirated, the use of flares was fully justified. The ship in question was not conventionally armed to defend against hostile acts, and therefore any weapon available is justifyable. The pirates will get what they deserve under humane law, although even that is too good for them.

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Henry Bowman, bowman@bugmenot.com, 16-01-2009 - USA

"The Netherlands will proceed with plans to try the pirates, but can the crew of the ship which was attacked also expect to be charged for firing flares? Ships that are attacked on the open seas have the right to defend themselves as long as they do not use excessive violence. The Dutch judge will have to determine whether firing flares at another ship can be deemed acceptable." WHAT is this insane European obsession with "proportionate force, judged entirely in hindsight?" Piracy is not "just" a property crime, it puts the victims in jeopardy of life or great bodily harm. If the pirates had not been attacking, they would not have had flares fired at them. And the result of firing the flares was to stop the attack with absolutely no loss of life on either side. Enough of this pointless legal masturbation. If it comes down to it, yes, the lives of innocent victims ARE worth more than the lives of their assailants. Grow a pair and get on with the real trial.

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