Acting Attorney General David Esparon said Friday that the court's verdict was based on consistent accounts from witnesses that contradicted the pirates' claims of innocence.
Esparon said the men hijacked two vessels in March -- a Seychellois fishing boat, Galate, and an Iranian ship, Al-Ahmadi -- both of which were freed by a Seychellois coastguard patrol boat, Topaz, following a shootout with the pirates.
He went on to add that another 15 suspected
Somali pirates still await trial in the island nation. Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch...
a court in Spain braces to try two Somali men suspected of taking part in the hijacking of a Spanish tuna trawler with its crew of 36 last year.
The National Court, Spain's top criminal court, will try the pair between January 31 and February 4, an official said on Thursday.
The Alakrana tuna trawler was seized on October 2, 2009 off the coast of Somalia and was released 47 days later.
One of the main criticisms directed at the international anti-piracy mission sent to the pirate-infested waters off the Somali coast is that despite the presence of frigates patrolling the waters the number of attacks has been on the rise since 2007.
However,
The infamous
However...
the mission, including the NATO fleet, has repeatedly expressed frustration over the lack of a legal process that would see the pirates convicted rather than set free immediately or after a few months in detention.
"When we come across a boat with ladders on board, we can be sure they are pirates," complained a senior member of NATO's anti-piracy task force in October. "After all, there are no known window-cleaning operations in the Indian Ocean."
"There is obviously massive frustration," said Lt. Cdr. Simon Ward aboard the Danish warship, Esbern Snare added.
"We are out here to eradicate piracy. We are achieving that, in a way, but we are not sending people through the courts -- which is what we would like to see more of."
Somali pirates are currently believed to be holding more than 20 vessels and more than 500 hostages.
The vessels are held against millions of dollars in ransoms, which has helped turn piracy off lawless Somalia into a lucrative business now expanding further into the Indian Ocean.
This has triggered concerns that a few sky-high ransoms have tempted the pirates to prolong the negotiating period to seek larger sums for tankers and container ships.