Eight Somali pirates who were arrested by British army in the high seas of the Indian Ocean Wednesday appeared before the Mombasa chief magistrate Catherine Mwangi.
The charges are that between 8th and 9th of this month they jointly attacked and detained a machine sailing vessel namely ‘Waadi Omar 2'.
Their case will be mentioned next week on Monday.
They are:
Said Muhamed Ahmed
Abdinasir Mohamed Said
Amin Osman Said
Ahmed Mohamed Omar
Feysal Ahmed Farah
Farah Said Yusuf
Hussein Mohamud Asmail
Abdi Hamud Kassim
During the handed over on Tuesday, British Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth said the pirates had been surrendered to face ‘resolute action.'
They were arrested when Royal Marines personnel from HMS Cumberland boarded a foreign flagged fishing vessel which had been spotted taking part in an attack on the Danish Merchant Vessel, Powerful.
"Their actions led to the release of the Yemeni vessel and its crew who have since returned to Yemen," Ainsworth said.
Upon release of the Yemeni vessel, the Somalis were subsequently transferred to RFA Wave Knight which docked in Mombasa on Tuesday morning to hand over the suspects to Kenyan authorities.
"This represents a successful outcome. An attack on a merchant vessel was deterred and innocent Yemeni victims were rescued. It sends a powerful message to pirates that their activities are unacceptable; and that the global community is united in its efforts to deter and disrupt them," he said.
"I am extremely proud of the men and women involved. HMS Cumberland has since resumed her counter-piracy patrol duties."
Asked why the Royal Navy decided to hand them over to Kenya for prosecution instead of trying them in London, Ainsworth said: "I don't see the reason of transferring them around the world when we have a regional country that is prepared to prosecute them."
Tuesday's hand-over of the suspects followed the weekend seizure in a separate incident of the Sirius Star, a massive oil tanker that is the largest ever vessel to be seized by Somali pirates.
The British minister who is in Kenya for official duties said piracy was affecting international trade.
"This is a huge problem, it's not only a problem for the regional countries, it's also a problem to world trade. We must do everything we can to ensure that we stop piracy," he said.
Mr Ainsworth said he was in the country to advance the close defence relationship between London and Nairobi.
