A court in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden on Wednesday sentenced 10 Somali men to 10 years in jail each for a 2009 piracy attack on an Iranian fishing trawler in the Indian Ocean, DPA reported according tj the official Saba news agency.
The men were captured by a Russian nuclear-powered warship in February 2009 as they attempted to take the Iranian ship off the Socotra Archipelago, in the north-west Indian Ocean near the Gulf of Aden.
The Russian warship captured the 10 pirates - who were using two speedboats and a mother ship - as they tried to hijack the Iranian trawler south-east of the Socotra Island in the Indian Ocean on February 12, 2009, according to the Russian Navy.
Saba said the court convicted the 10 men of "attempted piracy" based on evidence from a report made by the Russian Navy after it handed the men over to Yemen on February 18, 2009.
The rulings come one day after a state security court in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a convicted six Somalis to death and sentenced six others to 10 years in jail for attacking two Yemeni oil tankers and killing two Yemeni soldiers.
Piracy off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden has surged in recent years as Somalia has descended into chaos with no strong government to establish order.
The Gulf of Aden lies between Yemen and Somalia and connects the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean. It has seen an unprecedented rise in piracy attacks during the past few years.
This waterway is one of the world's most important sea lanes, and an important thoroughfare for goods heading from Asia to Europe.
Foreign navies have recently sent over a dozen warships to the area seeking to stop piracy in the region, which has driven up shipping costs and forced some ships to re-route around Africa rather than pass through the Suez Canal.
Yemeni court sentences 10 Somali pirates to 10 years jail each
A court in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden on Wednesday sentenced 10 Somali men to 10 years in jail each for a 2009 piracy attack on an Iranian fishing trawler in the Indian Ocean, DPA reported according tj the official Saba news agency.
