(17 Jun 2010) SHOTLIST
1. Wide exterior of court
2. Wide of television satellite trucks outside court
3. Wide of judges entering courtroom
4. Wide judge opening the proceedings
5. SOUNDBITE: (Dutch) Klein Wolterink, Presiding Judge:
"All suspects are pronounced guilty, and will receive a five year prison sentence."
6. Set-up of defence lawyer, Haroon Raza
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Haroon Raza, Defence lawyer:
"We expected a dismissal of all charges, because of certain jurisdictional problems with the case, and I still really do believe the case will be dismissed in appeal by the High Court on jurisdictional grounds because the Netherlands does not have jurisdiction over this case."
8. Raza being interviewed
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Haroon Raza, Defence lawyer:
(responding to question about comments made by defendant Sayid Ali Garaar that "Netherlands don't like Muslim people.")
"I guess that the one suspect (Sayid Ali Garaar) who made that comment was probably influenced by our shameful election result, which is not very strange. As you know, the party (anti-Islam Freedom Party) of Mr Geert Wilders has become the third party in this country. I guess that might be one of the reasons that he said those words. But I also understand what he means, because what he really means is look at the evidence, bring the witnesses into court, which was not done properly in this case, and hear those witnesses because after that you will see that these suspects do have a point and do have a case."
10. Exterior of court
STORYLINE:
Five Somali men were sentenced to prison in Rotterdam on Thursday for attacking a cargo ship, flying the Dutch Antilles flag, with automatic weapons and a rocket-propelled grenade, in the first piracy case to come to trial in Europe in modern times.
The five were convicted of assaulting the 'Samanyulo' in the Gulf of Aden in 2009 - an attack that was thwarted by helicopter-borne Danish marines.
Each of the attackers was sentenced to five years in prison.
"We expected a dismissal of all charges, because of certain jurisdictional problems with the case, and I still really do believe the case will be dismissed in appeal by the High Court on jurisdictional grounds because the Netherlands does not have jurisdiction over this case," said defence lawyer, Haroon Raza.
But one of the defendants called the decision unfair, whereas the others shook their lawyers' hands and waved at reporters as they were escorted out of the courtroom.
"Netherlands don't like Muslim people," 39-year-old Sayid Ali Garaar repeated several times in rough English.
Their lawyer Haroon Raza said he could understand why Ali Garaar said what he did.
"I guess that the one suspect who made that comment was probably influenced by our shameful election result, which is not very strange. As you know, the party (anti-Islam Freedom Party) of Mr Geert Wilders has become the third party in this country. I guess that might be one of the reasons that he said those words."
The case is a landmark in the fight against the escalating incidents of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, which have prompted navies around the world to join in a task force to protect one of the world's busiest sea lanes for merchant ships and oil tankers.
But the pirates still sometimes succeed in collecting multi-million-dollar ransoms, and hijackings have persisted despite an international armada deployed by the United States, the European Union, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), Japan, South Korea and China.
Other Somali piracy suspects were being held in France, Spain, Germany and the US.
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