| Strange days, friends, strange days. |
The German navy patrolling the Gulf of Aden captured the plaintiff, identified as Ali Mohamed A.D., last month when he allegedly tried to seize a freighter, the MV Courier. He was transferred to Kenya along with eight other Somali suspects for prosecution in the port city of Mombasa under an EU agreement with the east African country.
The plaintiff's lawyer Oliver Wallasch said his client was seeking 10,000 euros (13,300 dollars) from the German government before the Berlin regional court for damages incurred after his "unlawful" transfer to Kenya.
The lawsuit, targeted at the interior, defence, justice and foreign ministries, contends that Berlin must have been aware that a suspect would likely have no access to medical treatment, sanitary facilities or privacy in a Kenyan jail. This "inhumane treatment" could expose him to "life-threatening illnesses" and possibly deprive him of a "proper legal defence", Wallasch wrote in the court documents provided to AFP.
Ali Mohamed A.D. denies involvement in piracy in the lawsuit.
Meanwhile a second suspect, Mohamud Mohamed H., has filed an injunction with the Berlin administrative court aiming to force the German foreign ministry to cover the costs of a public defender in Kenya. His lawyer Andreas Schulz said his trial was to begin in Mombasa on April 22 and he currently has no defence attorney there.
Wallasch said another three suspected pirates had hired German lawyers.
Kenya and the EU have signed an agreement to transfer to the country suspected Somali pirates who are detained as part of the bloc's Atalanta anti-piracy naval mission off the Somali coast.