the moments, it's not clear whether there will be any criminal proceedings," justice spokesman Wilhelm Moellers told DPA news agency on Saturday, March 7.Late Friday, the Hamburg court had issued the arrest warrants, based on charges of an attack on traffic on the high seas. The decision followed an agreement signed earlier in the day by Kenya and the European Union, which allows for the transfer to Kenya of piracy suspects detained as part of the EU's Atalanta anti-piracy mission.
Captured pirates en route to Kenya
The German Defense Ministry said the frigate "Rheinland-Pfalz," where the pirates have been held since Tuesday, had already set course for the Kenyan port city of Mombasa. The frigate apprehended them when the pirates attacked the German merchant vessel "MV Courier" off Somalia with anti-tank missiles and firearms.This was the first time in Germany's modern history that its navy had made any apprehensions at sea.The arrest warrants issued late Friday do not strictly require that a criminal prosecution be carried out in Germany, as the details of the Kenya-EU agreement must first be examined. According to a report by broadcaster ZDF, prosecution officials said there were enough grounds for prosecuting the pirates in Germany. However, the court must first decide whether German interests were at stake during the attack.
Question of endangered German interests
Since the "MV Courier," which is owned by a Bremen-based shipping company, had been sailing under an Antiguan flag with a non-German crew, this could be questionable.Also, the German Interior Ministry earlier this week had said there were no grounds for a German prosecution of the captured men, as no German interests were considered endangered in the attack...more..http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4079950,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-rdf
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