Seychelles to prosecute and jail drugs, weapon traffickers off Somalia coast
17 members of the Seychelles National Assembly have voted to ratify an agreement with the European Union for arrested drug and weapon trafficking suspects to be tried and imprisoned in the Island country.
Director General for Regional Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Christian Faure has explained that EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta initiated the agreement. Thus, persons arrested for such offences off the coast of Somalia will face prosecution in Seychelles, reports Seychelles News Agency.
"As piracy has been suppressed, we are seeing new emerging issues post piracy like the rise in drug trafficking and elements of arms so when we made several meetings on maritime security we realised that we must now look beyond piracy and at the emerging threats in a more holistic and more comprehensive manner," Faure explained.
Seychelles’ Minister of Internal Affairs Errol Fonseka has further indicated that Seychelles "is using the opportunity to use this deployment of the various maritime assets that we don't have to cover the area space not just for our own Exclusive Economic Zone but also outside of it," noting that the “operations would be controlled by the Seychelles Regional Centre for Operations".
The State principal counsel George Thachett has also highlighted the country’s legal preparedness in dealing with future arrest and prosecution of perpetrators.
"Once this agreement is ratified we may need to amend certain laws namely the Misuse of Drugs Act and Firearms and Ammunition Act that will the Seychelles judiciousness to trial such cases. There is already a provision for the Attorney General to review the files provided to us to see the sufficiency of evidence. There is also a right that Seychelles can at any time decide not to prosecute any transferred prisoner… from our experience in dealing with the pirates, we are sure that we can cover this one for the legal finish,” Thachett is quoted in the report.
Thachett further stated that individuals detained during the operations would be held at Marie-Louise, an island situated 310 kilometres away from the main island of Mahe. This prison facility was constructed on the island in 2012 to house convicted drug traffickers and had been closed down in September 2017.
Seychelles comprises a group of 115 islands spread over an Exclusive Economic Zone of 1.4 million square kilometres. The country grapples with suppressing unlawful activities at sea, due to its immense maritime space.
