Nairobi - Seychelles on Monday said it had sentenced 11 Somali pirates to a decade in prison - the first ruling of its kind in the
Indian Ocean archipelago.
Pirate groups have ventured further out into the Indian Ocean to avoid international warships patrolling Somalia's coastal waters, bringing them into the domain of Seychelles.
The 11 men were caught inside Seychelles' territorial waters when they attacked a coastguard vessel with automatic weapons last December.
"These convictions will ... serve as a deterrent for prospective Somali pirates who would otherwise have thought they would have come into Seychelles waters with impunity," Seychelles Department of Legal Affairs said in a statement.
"Their conviction is a historical milestone as it is the first time that a piracy trial is successfully prosecuted in the Seychelles," the statement added.
Eight of the Somali men were convicted of piracy, while the other three were found guilty of aiding and abetting piracy.
Some 29 other suspected pirates are awaiting trial in Seychelles.
Speaking on a local
television channel, Seychelles' President James Michel said that the island nation was fighting back against the armed groups.
"We could not allow these pirates to destroy our
economy and take our people hostage," he said
Kenya and Seychelles have both tried pirates, although
Kenya earlier this year threatened to stop trials unless it received more international funding.
However, legal uncertainty often prevented pirates from being prosecuted. International forces regularly release suspected pirates seized in international waters due to debate over who should try them.
Somali has been without an effective central government since 1991, allowing piracy to flourish in its coastal waters.
