Wednesday, March 26, 2014
The video-conferencing of 18 foreign witnesses in the trial of 120 Somali pirates, who had hijacked two ships and had held 70 crew members hostage in 2010, will begin on Wednesday in a city court. The Somali pirates in this case have been booked under several sections of the IPC including murder, hijacking and waging war against the Indian government. Sections of stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) were also invoked against these pirates.
The pirates had taken control of Vega 5, a Mozambican fishing vessel following which they had demanded a ransom of $20 million. When no responses pertaining to the ransom were made, the pirates brought down the negotiation amount to $4 million but that, too, was turned down by the authorities. The pirates had then sailed the vessel to Somalia keeping the hostages in their custody for several months.
A few months later the pirates hijacked Al-Murtuza, an Iranian vessel. In March 2011, the Indian Navy and Coast Guard intercepted Al-Murtuza, which was being sailed by the pirates in the Arabian Sea and a total of 120 pirates were nabbed in several raids.
Mohamed Adam, an Iranian national, was killed by the pirates, while an Pakistani national, Abdul Aziz had jumped into the sea when the pirates had hijacked the ship. Aziz's has not been found till date. Crew members from countries like Bangladesh, Turkey, Pakistan and Philippines were rescued.
A senior official said that the court has so far examined 70 Indian witness, while 12 more are yet to be examined. Also, six witnesses each from Thailand and Mozambique, four from Iran and two from Pakistan also to be examined. A request for video trails has been sent to these countries, sources added.
A senior port zone officer said that the 18 foreign witnesses will be called to the indian embassies in their countries where they will testify through videocon. Amicus Curiae for the parties have given an application to the sessions court mentioning that the foreigner witnesses appearing should be genuine. The arrested pirates are lodged in Taloja jail.
Eleven AK-47 rifles with magazines and 10 AK-47s without magazines, two rocket launchers were recovered from the pirates. It was later learnt that the pirates had thrown most of their weapons into the sea.
The city police, unable to make head or tail of what the 120 arrested Somali pirates said in court, took help from two Somali MBA students, studying at the Pune University, to act as interpreters during the trial.