The German navy has released four suspected pirates, captured last week in an operation to prevent a suspected piracy attack in the Gulf of Aden, the Bundeswehr said Tuesday.
A fifth suspect had died when the Brandenburg navy frigate attempted to stop a suspicious-looking boat off the coast of Somalia on September 7. This was the first fatality caused by the Bundeswehr mission. The body is to be returned to Somalia in coordination with the International Red Cross, according to a statement published on the Bundeswehr website.
The four men were released after German officials - consulting with the European Union-led Atalanta operation headquarters - decided not to extradite them to Kenya for prosecution. EU experts said they were not sufficiently sure that the men would be convicted in Kenya. The German government did not want to prosecute as no German interests had been damaged.
Consequently, the men were released on Monday afternoon, within sight of the Somali coast. |