France to Pay Compensation to Somali Pirates for Non-Pecuniary Damage: ECHR

The European Court on Human Rights has ordered France to pay Somali pirates compensation for "unlawful" detainment. Paris will apologize before the pirates for holding them 48 hours in custody, as each pirate will receive up to 9,000 euros.

MOSCOW, December 4 (Sputnik) – France is to pay compensation to Somali pirates who were unlawfully detained by French authorities, the European Court on Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Thursday.

The total sum of the compensation for the non-pecuniary damage exceeds 30,000 euros ($37,000), with the individual sums varying from 3,000 euros to 9,000 euros, according to the court's statement.

The French authorities arrested the pirates back in 2008 in Somalia as part of a planned interception, after the pirates released French hostages for a ransom of $2,150,000.

EU court orders France to pay thousands to Somali pirates http://t.co/wJUh7v7ilw

— FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) 4 декабря 2014

The pirates were brought to France and held in custody for 48 hours before facing charges, which the ECHR regarded as unlawful.

"The applicants had been taken into custody for 48 hours on their arrival in France instead of being brought 'promptly' before a legal authority, when they had already been deprived of their liberty for four days and some twenty hours (Ali Samatar and Others) and six days and sixteen hours (Hassan and Others)," the court ruling said.

In November 2012, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution against piracy off the coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Guinea, urging Somalia's authorities to provide patrols in the coastal area and introduce a set of counter-piracy laws.