Ten suspects are currently being held by Dutch marines, who freed Liberian-flag Taipan IMO 810591 a container ship plying the Israel-South Africa route, chartered by Zim, hijacked some 900 kilometers off the Somali coast on April 4 in the Gulf of Aden. Germany was warned by Dutch Defense Minister Eimert van Middelkoop that the suspects would have to be let go if they could not be passed on to German authorities.
On April 12, a court in Hamburg issued arrest warrants for the alleged pirates. Bernd Mauruschat, a spokesman for Hamburg's public prosecutor's office, the group would face trial there because that was the home port of the ship that was attacked.If you're only putting fishermen on trial, you will have 10 or 20 more replacing them the next day," Ulrich Delius. "We have to fight against those who are financing and arming pirates and organizing the attacks."
The U.S. Department of Justice has enough evidence on five pirates to prosecute them, according to military officials. The expectation is they will be tried in federal court. The five are being held aboard the USS Nicholas -- the guided-missile frigate they are accused of attacking - The suspects are expected to be moved to the U.S. base in Djibouti and then flown to Norfolk, Virginia, according to the officials.
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