Court orders death sentences for six Somali pirates
Six Somali pirates have been found guilty after seizing an oil tanker.
Somali pirates stand in the dock during their trial in Sanaa on May 18. A Yemeni court sentenced six Somali pirates to death and jailed six others for 10 years each for hijacking a Yemeni oil tanker and killing two cabin crew in April last year.
STR/AFP
SAN'A, Yemen
A Yemeni security court has convicted six Somalis for piracy and sentenced them to death for seizing an oil tanker.
Six other convicted pirates received 10 year prison sentences on Tuesday and the pirates they must together pay $2 million compensation to the Aden refinery company, which owns the tanker.
Yemeni coast guard forces freed the Yemeni oil tanker Qana in April last year shortly after it was attacked and hijacked by the pirates.
The tanker was among four vessels sailing between the southern Yemeni ports of Mukalla and Aden under escort by a Yemeni coast guard boat. The other vessels escaped the attack.
Three pirates and two crewmen died and four others were injured in the operation.
Defense lawyers have appealed the verdict.
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