According to the Times of India, Six Mozambicans may depose in the trial of 120 Somali pirates. The Mozambique government is the first nation among seven countries, whose nationals were taken hostage by the pirates in 2011, to send its citizens. “The Mozambique embassy has sent a letter to the state government giving a green signal to its nationals. They will be deposing before a Sewri fast-track court,” said a source in the security establishment.
Myanmar, Bangladesh and Iran have also agreed to send their nationals. Myanmar has requested that they should be given seven days’ notice before the trial, while Iran has fixed an advanced time limit of two months.
The court was scheduled to hear the testimony of foreign witnesses from Tuesday. The 74 nationals taken hostage belong to Pakistan, Myanmar, Mozambique, Iran, Thailand, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
Of these 74 witnesses, 40 had given their statements before a magistrate before leaving India in 2011. Some had even identified the accused.
The pirates had hijacked several ships like ‘Vega 5’ and ‘Al-Murtuza’ and held their crew hostage. The pirates later demanded collectively $20 million from various countries to set their nationals free.
Source: The Times of India