A Danish court on Friday ruled that the Scandinavian country could try six suspected pirates captured in the Gulf of Aden late last month, a judicial official said.
Denmark's special international crimes prosecutor Birgitte Vestberg told AFP she had been "informed Friday of an appeals court decision authorising Denmark to try the pirates in custody".
The six men are still being held on a Danish warship, the Esbern Snare, that had been patrolling the Gulf of Aden under NATO operational control when it on December 30 disarmed a vessel off Somalia with alleged pirates aboard that appeared set to attack a Danish cargo ship.
A Copenhagen district court had already ruled the six could be held in preventive custody on the Esbern Snare, but the suspected pirates had appealed the decision.
"We will now start our investigation to collect as much evidence as possible to take the case to court," Vestberg said, adding that she did not know yet if the six would be taken to Denmark.
"Everything depends on the development of the investigation and the evidence that we are able to gather," she said, adding that "it is not certain, when the time comes, that they will appear before a court in Denmark."
The six could also be tried in the self-declared sovereign state of "Somaliland or in the Seychelles", she said.
The Esbern Snare is taking part in a NATO-led anti-piracy operation called "Ocean Shield", which started in August 2009 and is set to run until the end of 2012.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
