Spain sentences Somali pirates who tried to kidnap Basque fishermen
Source: thinkSpain
SPAIN'S National Court jailed six Somali pirates accused of trying to kidnap the crew on board a tuna-fishing boat from the Basque Country 11 months ago.
The Izurdia was targeted by invaders with gun-shots and grenades on October 10, 2012 when it was sailing in the Indian Ocean some 350 miles off the coast of Somalia, East Africa.
Occupants of a pirate boat attempted to board the tuna ship and opened fire on the crew, at which point the on-board security guards put their emergency safety procedures into practice – everyone but the captain and the operations chief hid in the control room and a security barrier was raised around the boat.
Security guards responded to the six pirates with an 'intense' volley of gun-shots as the Izurdia was chased across the water for 30 minutes, before the accused men finally fled the scene.
A Dutch NATO ship, sent out to the Indian Ocean to combat piracy, discovered the offending pirates the next day and sent out two helicopters who let off three warning shots to them.
They finally surrendered and handed over their arms, although did not initially stop their boat when the NATO ship ordered,which in itself is an offence.
Cabdiweli Cabdullahi ('Abdu Willy') and Raageggesey Hassan Aji were jailed for 36 years apiece for a similar incident in 2009, and for the attempted abduction last autumn, Adane Yusuf Ali, Abdi Ali Salad, Abdilahi Ise Jama, Yahye Omar Ali Hassan, Ali Mahammed Ali and Ali Mahamed Hirsi have been imprisoned for a total of 1,122 years between them – although in practice, they will probably only serve a maximum of 40 years each.
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