The 11 crew members of the 'Rwabee', seized by Iran-backed Huthi rebels, were so far fine, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Jan 13, while negotiations were ongoing for their release. Seven of the ship Rwabee's crew are Indian and the others come from Ethiopia, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines. The rebels claimed they seized the 'Rwabee' in Yemeni waters with military equipment on board. In a statement to the United Nations, the UAE government denounced the hijacking, calling it an "act of piracy."
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ESBERN SNARE
Three of the four pirates captured after a firefight with Danish special forces in the Gulf of Guinea on Nov 24 will be released. The last - and wounded pirate - landed in Denmark on Jan 6 where he will be prosecuted. “As a result of Denmark's international obligations and the suspected pirate's state of health, it has been assessed that there was no other way than to bring the person to Denmark. The government in no way wants the suspected pirates to come to Denmark, but in one of the four cases there were unfortunately no other options. I have therefore not instructed the prosecution to notify the person in question of a waiver of charges. This presumably means that he will be prosecuted in Denmark for attempted manslaughter of Danish soldiers", said the Minister of Justice, Nick Hækkerup. He has informed the prosecution that the charges against the last three pirates must be dropped so that they do not have to be brought to Denmark to be prosecuted. They have therefore been released at sea by handing them over at the territorial border to a boat with an outboard motor and supplies enough to bring them ashore. The three pirates have been charged with attempted manslaughter by shelling Danish soldiers and have been remanded in custody in absentia. It has not been possible to extradite the persons in question for prosecution in the immediate area. An indictment would therefore have meant that a criminal case had to be carried out in Denmark, and that the persons in question had to be brought to Denmark, as a defendant in a case of attempted manslaughter must be present in court during his case. “This is a very unusual case, where in addition to the considerations that will normally be decisive for how a criminal case is assessed, there is a need to include a number of other considerations. We have no interest in getting the persons in question to Denmark, where they would have to serve a possible sentence, and where we also risk that they would not subsequently be able to be deported. Therefore, I have quite exceptionally decided to order the prosecution to notify three of the four suspected pirates of a waiver. This means that the three suspected pirates have been set free. They have no connection to Denmark, and the crime they have been charged with has been committed far from Denmark. They simply do not belong here. And that is why I think it is the right thing to do ”, said Nick Hækkerup. The Ministry of Justice writes in a statement that if the persons in question were brought to Denmark as part of the criminal case, there was - regardless of whether they had ended up being punished for the alleged circumstances or not - a risk that they would not subsequently be forcibly deported to their home country e.g. due to Denmark's international obligations with the consequence that they would stay in Denmark indefinitely. The Ministry assessed that such a development could potentially create an incentive for others to commit criminal acts with the aim of being prosecuted in Denmark, which could significantly weaken Denmark's opportunities to take part in international operations such as the present one in the future. "Given the circumstances surrounding the confrontation with and arrest of the suspected pirates, including that no Danish soldiers were injured as a result of the attack for which the suspected pirates were charged, further prosecution was deemed not to be required for either individual or general preventive reasons, nor was it considered to take into account the sense of justice in Denmark, which spoke in favour of prosecution in this country. Overall, on the basis of the stated background, it was assessed that there were no weighty public interests that spoke against the waiver of charges".
RWABEE
The 11 crew members of the 'Rwabee' continued to be in captivity since one week on Jan 9. The Houthi rebels have allowed the crew to speak with their families and stated the rebels were asking for authentication to prove that they are genuine seafarers. They told their relatives that there was heavy firing when the rebels captured the ship. All of them were being treated well. They have been taken from the ship to a hotel and will have to be there for seven days under quarantine after which tickets will be issued to them to return from their recruiting agency.
ESBERN SNARE
Two of the four pirates captured after a firefight with Danish special forces in the Gulf of Guinea on Nov 24, 2021, will be released. According to their lawyers, this happens after the prosecution has decided to drop the charges against them. How and when the two pirates will be released is not known. They have both stated that they come from Nigeria. The drop of charges does not mean that the prosecution believee they were innocent. The pirates are charged with attempted murder of the Danish soldiers. What will happen to the last two pirates - one of whom is hospitalized in Ghana after he had his leg amputated - is not known. Since the firefight, Denmark has tried to enter into an agreement on the extradition of the four pirates for prosecution in one of the countries bordering the Gulf of Guinea. But this has not been possible. It is unclear what evidence the Danish authorities have that the four prisoners had plans to attack ships in the area, and what exactly triggered the firefight that left four, maybe five, pirates dead - and one seriously injured.
ESBERN SNARE
One of the four captured pirates who has not been released again, was heard on Jan 7 in constitutional interrogation in Copenhagen City Court. Here he told that it was the Danes who had started shooting, and that he and the other prisoners were not pirates. The man stated that the boat he was on was flown over by a helicopter, which subsequently opened fire on the boat. A smaller boat then arrived and sank the boat he was in. In the water, his legs were hit by the ship's propeller. When he woke up again, he was on board the frigate, and one of his legs was gone. Asked why he was in the boat with the eight other men, he replied that they were looking for a boat, which they were to sail to the coast, where it was to be loaded. The reason they had weapons on board was that the waters were unsafe. The man is charged with attempted murder, by having shot at the Danish helicopter - which he denies guilt in. The three other pirates who had been captured by the Danish soldiers were released at sea on Jan 6 and put in an inflatable boat with an outboard motor, with enough supplies to sail to the nearest coast. The pirate had his custody extended for another 25 days.