Somali pirates in Mauritius court on Thursday
Source: The Independent Daily
The [Mauritius] police inquiry of the 12 Somali pirates will take a new turn this week as the suspects will be assigned lawyers to aid in their interrogation.
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Suspect Pirates - File Photo
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The pirates will be presented in court on Thursday.
The police inquiry is being carried out by a special cell of the Central Criminal Investigation Department. According to sources, Abdilahi Ahmed Mohamed, aged 45, is the mastermind of the operation.
Investigators are yet to record their statements as the suspected pirates aged between 21 and 45 years were not represented by any lawyer.
Also, only a few of them could speak English. The assistant commissioner of police, Pregassen Vuddamalay who is also the supervising officer, is taking matters very seriously and two Somalian translators are already on the island to help in the inquiry.
The pirates are temporarily charged with piracy attacks at high seas under the Piracy and Maritime Violence Act.
The first hearing will be held in a special court at the New Court House presided by judge Priviraj Feknah.
The suspects denied they are pirates and told police they were “fishing” when they were “arrested by the French authorities.”
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