Tuesday 18th, July 2011 - The Chair of the High Level Committee on Piracy has applauded the recent pre-trial prisoner transfer agreement signed between Mauritius and the European Union which is the first step towards prosecuting pirates captured at sea in Mauritian courts.

Mr. Joel Morgan, Minister for Home Affairs, Transport and Energy, praised the move following the Ninth Plenary Session of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somali (CGPCS), held in New York earlier this month.

"The importance of the Prisoner Transfer Agreements that Seychelles has signed with our partners in the fight against piracy recently was widely acknowledged at this meeting and we have long been calling on other countries in the region to establish similar agreements so that we can continue to fight this scourge together and efficiently," said Minister Morgan,

"Seychelles has always been prepared to do what is necessary to keep our seafarers safe, and it is very encouraging that other countries in the region are taking the steps necessary to bring these pirates to justice."

The Minister also echoed the call of the CGPCS in its resulting statement which invited other states to urgently conclude similar agreements.

Seychelles has signed several prisoner transfer agreements with military vessels operating in the Indian Ocean which allows pirates to be brought to trial in Seychelles.

Earlier this year Minister Morgan signed three agreements with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and the Somali authorities of Puntland and Somaliland, relating to the return of Somali prisoners back to Somalia to serve the remainder their prison sentences.

The signing was the result of talks held in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and facilitated by Ambassador Thomas Winkler, of Denmark, who is the Chairman of Working Group 2 on Legal Issues for the CGPCS.

The Seychelles Government is also organising an international conference on piracy later this year on the 7th to 8th September, which is to be followed by the CGPCS Working Group 5 on the Financial Aspects of Piracy on the 9th to the 10th.

Additional Information

Ninth Plenary Session of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Cost of Somalia -- Communique