Suspected Somali pirates freed

2008-09-24 13:01

Copenhagen - A Danish navy vessel freed 10 suspected pirates on a beach in Somalia rather than hand them over to the authorities there, the navy and Denmark's defence minister said on Wednesday.

Officers released the suspects overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday after holding them for six days in the Gulf of Aden, said the statement on the navy's website.

Before being released, they were given back their personal effects, but weapons and communications equipment were confiscated, the statement added.

"It was the lesser of two evils, for the other solution, which would have made me uneasy, would have been to hand them over to a regime where they risked being tortured and killed," Defence Minister Soeren Gade told Denmark's TV2 news.

Gade announced the news to deputies late on Tuesday, saying that under Danish law it was not possible to prosecute them because of a lack of evidence.

They had considered transferring them to other vessels in the multinational Task Force 150 fleet operating off the coast of Somalia, but rejected the idea, he added.

On September 17, just two days after taking command of the task force, the Danish navy vessel Absalon intercepted two suspect high-speed boats spotted by a Danish helicopter in the Gulf of Aden and detained the 10 armed men on board.

The men were armed with sub-machine guns and four anti-tank shells sometimes used by pirates during attacks on civilian vessels, said Denmark's naval command.

The mission of Task Force 150 is to pursue pirates and armed smugglers operating in the northern waters of the Indian Ocean.

- AFP