VIENNA (Reuters) - The Seychelles will set up a regional centre to prosecute pirates as part of an international push to stem costly attacks of ships off the Somali coast, the U.N. crime-fighting agency said.
Seychelles, a group of islands to the east of lawless Somalia, already has experience in putting on trial pirates caught in its waters and now wants to play a wider role, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said.
"As naval activity in the Horn of Africa becomes increasingly secure, pirates are moving south, attacking yachts, fishing vessels and other ships based in or operating around Seychelles," it said in a statement on its website.
"In response, Seychelles has announced that it is to establish a regional centre for the prosecution of piracy".
Kenya has already moved to set up a similar court in reaction to the attacks and the United Nations Security Council has called for such special centres to help tackle piracy.
Under the plan, the Seychelles will be able to prosecute pirates caught by EU naval patrols in the area. The UNODC said it was working with the islands and European Union to prepare police, coastguard, prosecutors, courts and prisons for the trials. It did not give a timeframe for the plan.
The hijacking of ships near the coast of Somalia, where an Islamist insurgency and general lawlessness have helped pirates to flourish, has cost the shipping industry tens of millions of dollars in ransoms for vessels and their crews.
Prosecution of pirates, some of whom go free even if they are captured, has been hampered by disagreements over which country should try them. Somalia does not have the legal infrastructure for trials.
Reuters Africa
