France convicts Somali pirates captured after taking a vessel hostage in 2008. It is the first time that Somali pirates had been tried in the nation, but this is no reason that they would not be handed down prison sentences of between 6 and 16 yrs. The six were all found guilty of piracy charges and will be jailed in France.

The pirate’s legal representative pledged for a leaner sentence as they would be facing a jail term in a foreign nation and also mentioned that one of the pirates was in his early sixties, but this plead may not carry much weight as they clearly understood piracy regulations and implications that would follow. The verdict is expected to be strong with each of the pirates expected to serve 6 to 16 years in jail.

This does not come with a surprise as the pirates have terrorized shipping around the horn of Africa, with little ability to curb them as they dump there weapons in to the sea and pose as fishermen before being intercepted by vessel patrolling the water making it close to impossible to catch them red handed.