First European trial of pirate suspects opens

According to the Rotterdam District Court, the five Somali men were arrested in January 2009 in the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia, after a cargo ship with Dutch Antilles flag was attacked.

"The ship of the pirates was destroyed by the Danish Navy, and the pirates were captured and handed to the Dutch authority. They' re being tried for sea robbery, and if convicted the maximum sentence will be 9 to 12 years," said Win De Bruin, a spokesman for Netherlands National Prosecutor's Office.

The five have confessed that they took a ship hijacking. But one of them said in court that their boat was broken and that he wanted to ask the ship for help. "It's impossible to verify because the boat ... now disappeared at the bottom of the sea," their attorney said.

The trial is expected to be completed within five days, with a verdict expected by July 16; Kazinform cites Xinhua.