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| Africa Horn |
| Tanzania can now prosecute piracy cases |
| 2014-01-06 |
| Offenses related to piracy will now be prosecuted in local courts, following recent settlement of legal frameworks that will facilitate fair prosecution, Tanzanian Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Mathias Chikawe said. Such offences were prosecuted in Kenya and Seychelles on a special embargo, the minister told The Guardian in Dar es Salaam in a recent exclusive interview. He said prosecution of piracy suspects along the Indian Ocean coast was done according to special agreement that had to be entered between the countries sharing the ocean’s waters before the accused are arraigned. “Prosecution was only administered in Kenya and Seychelles which had already ratified international conventions covering a bilateral agreement that Tanzania is yet to enter. Recent years have witnessed a series of pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean waters believed to be Somali Islamists who hijack ships. The perpetrators also demanded lots of money from the shipping companies in ransom, threatening international shipping. |
| Posted by:Steve White |