Indian court sentences 44 Somali pirates to life in prison
MUMBAI: An Indian court has imposed life sentences on 44 Somali nationals for hijacking vessels and holding crew members hostage off the East African country’s coast.
The convictions stem from two separate attacks on a bulk carrier and a fishing vessel. Indian navy ships rescued the hostages and apprehended the pirates in 2024.
All 44 defendants admitted guilt during the proceedings, according to judgments delivered in both cases by a special court in Mumbai on Monday.
“The act of piracy on high sea by hijacking a vessel and keeping crew members hostage for ransom by attempting to kill them and to keep them as human shield are very serious things which cannot be taken casually,” Judge SB Dige said.
The first attack occurred in December 2023, when 35 Somalis seized the Maltese-flagged bulk carrier MV Ruen. Nine others hijacked the Iranian-flagged fishing ship Al Kambar in March 2024.
Local media reported that the defendants, held at Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai since 2024, appeared in court as their life sentences were handed down.
They had asked the court to return them to Somalia, where they sought to face legal proceedings.
Piracy plagued waters off Somalia throughout the 2000s, reaching its height in 2011 with hundreds of attacks. The threat has since fallen sharply following international naval deployments and the adoption of new security measures by commercial shipping operators.
India’s navy has operated off Somalia since 2008. It intensified anti-piracy operations in 2023 after attacks increased, including incidents in the Arabian Sea and assaults by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
