Four of the five Somali pirates arrested on charges of hijacking a South Korean freighter and shooting its captain will face jury trial in this port city this week in the nation's first piracy case, court officials said Sunday.
Prosecutors in February indicted the five Somali pirates captured alive during a Jan. 21 Navy commando operation in the Arabian Sea on charges of maritime piracy, accusing one of them of shooting the South Korean captain. The operation killed eight other pirates and rescued all 21 crew members, though the 58-year-old skipper, Seok Hae-kyun, was shot several times during the gun battle.
The Busan District Court, which has jurisdiction over the Korean shipping company, said that a jury trial on the four will start on Monday with the verdict due on Friday.
The remaining suspect, who refused to have a jury hear his case, will stand trial on Tuesday before receiving the court verdict on June 1, it added.
Under South Korean law, the pirates could be sentenced to at least five years in prison for hijacking the ship and life imprisonment or even death for firing at the captain from close distance.
South Korea began to adopt the jury trial system in 2008 on a limited basis in which a jury is convened in criminal cases if a defendant asks the court to have civilians hear the case. The jury's verdict is non-bonding and the system remains in an experimental stage.