A Mauritian Court on Friday overturned an earlier ruling and convicted twelve males of piracy over a January 2013 assault on the containership MSC Jasmine within the Indian Ocean.

The conviction was welcomed by the European Union’s ongoing counter-piracy operation EU Naval Force Samalia, which had assisted in capturing the pirates.

The profitable conviction got here after prosecution legal professionals within the Republic of Mauritius challenged an earlier courtroom ruling in November 2014 that had discovered the lads not responsible of attacking the Cypriot-flagged container ship on January 5, 2013 because it transited south within the Indian Ocean.

The conviction marks the primary piracy trial held by the Mauritian Court after a switch settlement enabling these suspected of committing an act of piracy off the coast of Somalia to be transferred to the island nation for prosecution, was signed between the European Union and the Mauritian Government in July 2011.

During the assault, MSC Jasmine’s grasp put out a misery name to say that his ship had been attacked by various males who have been armed with rocket propelled grenades, nevertheless a non-public safety crew on board managed to repel the assault.

After receiving the misery name, counter-piracy warships from NATO and EU Naval Force, along with EU Naval Force’s German maritime patrol plane, instantly closed in on space and boarding groups boarded two suspect vessels, apprehending the twelve males. The suspects have been transferred to the Republic of Mauritius for prosecution.

The European Union additionally has a switch settlement with the Republic of the Seychelles and simply final month the Seychellois Court discovered seven males responsible of attacking the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker, MV Nave Atropos, within the Gulf of Aden in January 2014.

These two circumstances comply with one other profitable piracy conviction this previous April when a French courtroom sentenced six Somali males to between 6 to fifteen years after they have been discovered responsible of attacking the yacht, Tribal Kat, and the homicide of its French skipper, in September 2011.

“I very much welcome the ruling made by the Mauritian Court today and the close cooperation with the EU Naval Force that helped to ensure a successful outcome,” commented EU Naval Force’s Operation Commander, Major General Rob Magowan CBE. “These convictions send a clear message to pirates intent on going out to sea to attack ships – EU Naval Force warships will not hesitate to find and apprehend them and transfer them for prosecution. The EU and counter-piracy partners remain committed to suppressing piracy to ensure seafarers and ships remain safe in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.”

The Mauritian Director of Public Prosecution, Mr Satyajit Boolell SC, commented: “We have played our part as a member of the regional and international communities’ efforts in the fight against piracy. We have ensured that the pirates were given a fair trial, and they were represented by legal counsel throughout the trial. This has been a victory for the international community and the rule of law.”