45 days after the last court session, the High Court resumed Friday the trial on the kidnapping of Basque tuna Alakrana in 2009 with the declaration of a dozen witnesses, including fishermen and soldiers.
The trial of the two suspected Somali pirates ‘Abdu Willy’ and ‘Raageggesey Adji Haman’ who were captured on the same day of the abduction (October 2, 2009) began on January 28 with the testimony of the Basque fisherman Gaizka Iturbe. The prosecutor is demanding for 220 years imprisonment.
The last session was held on 18 February with the attendance of several soldiers who participated in the release of the tuna vessel, November 17, 2009, after 47 days in captivity.
The reason the hearing was temporarily suspended was because the witnesses that were still to appear were away at sea. Witness fishermen were on fishing operations still at sea and military witnesses were still on patrol missions in the Indian Ocean, many of the latter serving in the Canary Islands Frigate since the start of the operation set out to free the Alakrana.
