By IANS,
Seoul : A Somali pirate was Friday sentenced to life in prison after a South Korean court convicted him of attempted murder, hostage-taking and maritime robbery, in the country’s first-ever trial for foreign pirates, Xinhua reported.
Mahomed Arai, 21, was convicted for shooting the captain of a South Korea-operated ship that was hijacked in the Arabian Sea in January this year.
Four pirates were captured when South Korean naval commandos stormed the hijacked ship, killing eight pirates and rescuing all 21 crew members.
The Busan district court Friday cleared the other pirates of charges of attempted murder of the captain.
They were convicted on other seven charges. One of them received a 15-year prison term, while the other two were given 13 years each in prison.
The prosecution had earlier demanded death penalty for Arai and life imprisonment for the other three pirates.
The captain is recovering in a hospital after multiple surgeries.