HAMBURG, Germany, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Ten men from Somalia were in Hamburg, Germany, Monday, awaiting trial on piracy charges, officials said.
Observers said a trial, such as the one scheduled to begin Monday, is rare because most pirates flee the scene after having secured millions of dollars in ransom for the ships and crews they seized, the BBC said. If convicted, the Somalis could face as long as 15 years in prison.
The men are charged with boarding a German cargo ship in April about 650 miles off the Somali coast.
Dutch forces recapture the ship after an exchange of gunfire then turned the captured Somalis over to German authorities.
Historians indicated this is the first piracy trial in Hamburg in more than 400 years, the BBC said.
The International Maritime Bureau said 23 vessels were still being held by pirates.
UPI
