Mogadishu (Sunatimes) A penal court in the Aden province of Yemen on Sunday sentenced eight Somali pirates to five years in prison. The men were convicted on charges of committing acts of piracy against Yemeni fishing boats.

Thirteen suspects were arrested in October 2009 in the Gulf of Aden, an area where maritime piracy remains a serious problem despite international efforts to curb it. Three of them were found innocent and released.

The men were tried in a specialized criminal court that handles issues involving piracy, terrorism and hostage-taking. However, the accused argue that they were fishermen and were illegally arrested by coast guards who were looking for pirates.

The Somali pirates usually hijack Yemeni fishing and commercial boats to use them in launching attacks on merchant vessels. Yemen shares the Gulf of Aden waters with the Somali coast and is one of the countries that have been mostly affected by the activities of the Somali pirates.

There are seven other groups of pirate suspects held in Yemen waiting to answer charges of piracy. Kenya and Seychelles are also holding similar number of pirate suspects.

By Radio Bar kulan