In the first piracy case that has gone to trial in (modern) Europe, a Dutch court in the city of Rotterdam today convicted five Somalis of piracy and sentenced them to five years in prison. The court ruled the five Somalis were guilty of attempting to hijack the Semanyolu, a cargo vessel registered in the Dutch Antilles.

The pirates launched their attack on the Semanyolu in the Gulf of Aden in January 2009 but the Turkish crew defended the ship with flares and Molotov cocktails, which set the pirates' boat on fire and sank it. A Danish navy helicopter rescued the pirates and in February, they were extradited to the Netherlands.

Somali economy
The five-year sentence is lower than the seven years demanded by the Public Prosecutor's Office (PPO). The court said it took Somalia's difficult economic circumstances into consideration when deteemining the sentence. The judges also ruled that the prosecution had not proven that the five were members of a larger piracy organisation.

Testimony by the crew of the Semanyolu and Danish navy personnel played an important role in the case. Many hijacking cases do not make it to trial because shipping companies are reluctant to lose time and money by allowing the personnel of a hijacked vessel to attend the often long, drawn out trials.

Unique case
After the verdict, defence lawyers said they were considering an appeal. One said it was "a unique case that should be prosecuted to the highest court". According to several witnesses, the Somali men had gotten into their boat somewhere on the Somali coast. The pirates had heard that numerous ships were sailing towards Yemen. They had a rocket launcher, three machine guns and a ladder on board.

When the pirates spotted the Semanyolu, they circled round so they could approach from the rear, sped towards it and opened fire. Court President Jan Willem Klein Wolterink said, "The defendant went to sea with the aim of hijacking a boat, it was only luck that nobody was hurt".

Jurisprudence
The PPO's Guus Schram responded enthusiastically to the conviction, "we are extremely pleased with this ruling. This is a precedent-setting case". Defence lawyer Jan Ausma said the Somali pirates are disappointed, "I think they had hoped for a better result, especially considering that a number of their countrymen in similar circumstances have been sent back to Somalia". Mr Ausma has 14 days to decide whether to appeal the conviction. The pirates will serve their sentences, minus the time they have already spent in jail awaiting trial, in an as yet unnamed Dutch prison. It is highly likely that they will be deported after their sentences have been served.