Photo credit: European Union naval force Operation Atalanta
The European Union naval force Operation Atalanta handed over the six alleged pirates to Seychelles under the framework of the legal agreement that European Union has with Seychelles.
The suspected pirates, allegedly from Somalia, were involved in the piracy attack to the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel Chrystal Arctic on the 10 of May, as Eunavfor claims in its press release.
In its official website on May 14, the European Union Naval Force (Eunavfor) – Operation Atalanta confirmed the “handing over of the six alleged pirates who carried out the piracy attack on the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel Chrystal Arctic to Seychelles authorities.”
Prior to the delivery, a commission composed of the Minister of Internal Affairs, a representative of the National Information Sharing Coordination Centre and members of the Seychellois police department together with three representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), went on board the Atalanta frigate.
The European delegation to Mauritius also assisted in the coordination with the Seychelles authorities.
During the meeting, they were briefed on the circumstances of the case, which led to the alleged pirates being handed over to the appropriate Seychelles authorities, being now in custody and awaiting trial.
Operation Atalanta has legal agreements with different nations in the Area of Operations, one of them being Seychelles, which allows for the trial of suspected pirates arrested by warships joining the operation.
“This is the core of the Legal Finish that ATALANTA has, which guarantees the entire process within piracy events from deter, arrest, detention, and prosecution in accordance with international law,” the European Union naval force said in its statement.
Since its inception in 2008, Eunavfor Atalanta has transferred 177 suspected pirates to the competent authorities, of which 145 have been convicted.
