France Asks Seychelles To Help With Pirate Trialsff

Source: AFP

French Defense Minister Herve Morin asked authorities on the Seychelles on Sunday to prosecute suspected pirates operating in the Indian Ocean.

Bringing to justice suspected Somali pirates captured by international navies in the Indian Ocean has proven difficult as lawless Somalia cannot try them, while most European countries do not want to take in a pirate who may then claim asylum.

Earlier this month, eleven suspected Somali pirates were captured after they tried to attack French tuna boats. They were released shortly after due to a lack of evidence.

On a trip to the Seychelles, Morin told reporters he had asked authorities to set up a legal system allowing for the trial of such suspects.

But Joel Morgan, the Seychelles minister in charge of environment, resources and transport, said the island lacked resources.

“We have a single prison here, for some 300 people, so taking in a large number of Somalis can cause problems with capacity,” he said.

Later on Sunday the French Defense Minister pledged his country’s support to the development of the Seychelles’ judiciary, ill-adapted to dealing with suspected Somali pirates captured in its waters.

“I underlined how important it is to France for pirates to be punished and for the Seychelles to set up an adequate legal system,” Herve Morin told reporters in Victoria, the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

He vowed to boost the Seychelles courts’ capacity a few days after the French navy said it was obliged to release 11 suspected pirates for lack of evidence following a failed attack on two French tuna-fishing vessels.

Morin also said that the European Union was planning to spend 800,000 Euros (1.18 million dollars) on developing the small archipelago's judiciary.

Morgan welcomed the minister's support, pointing out that “between February and June, maritime traffic dropped by 30 percent in the region, affecting mainly the tuna-fishing fleet.”

France, together with Spain, has several large tuna-fishing vessels stationed in the Seychelles, a key source of revenue for island state.

Since the monsoon winds dropped a week ago, piracy incidents have been on the rise after a relative lull and most of the incidents took place either inside or just outside the Seychelles exclusive economic zone.