Tuesday, 19th April
A group of British pirate hunters have been jailed for five years by an Indian court after they were sentenced on weapons charges brought against them while they worked in the Indian Ocean.
The six ex-paratroopers were working as mercenaries for U.S. company AdvanFort to protect ships from Somali pirates when they were arrested after entering Indian waters in October 2013.
However, a judge has now sentenced them to five years’ jail – a punishment labelled by one British MP as a ‘miscarriage of justice’.
Their jailing also comes only a matter of months after courts quashed all of the charges – fueling hopes they would soon be free to leave the country despite their passports being confiscated.
The criminalisation of seafarers is a major concern, and something the industry needs to urgently address.
