As we all know, the European Court of Human Rights comes out with some really crazy rulings from time to time, but this one really takes the biscuit in my opinion.
For years Somali pirates have been creating havoc among shipping travelling across the Indian Ocean and down the eastern coast of Africa by hijacking them and holding them for ransom from the owners. These ransoms run into millions of Euros each time a ship falls into their clutches, and much of it is used to fund the terror group al Shabaab.

Taking Over
In 2008 pirates held hostage a French flagged cruise ship and later a yacht. They were caught by the French military after the ransoms of $2.1 and $2 million respectively had been paid.

Gotcha!
Before transferring the pirates to France, the authorities held one group for four days and the others for six days and 16 hours. According to the judges, the time spent in captivity before being transferred to France was sufficient time for charges to be made against the pirates, but the extra 48 hours in custody on French soil violated the pirates’ right to liberty and security under the European Rights Act, the court ruled.
So now the French Government is legally bound to pay one pirate €9,000 and the rest €7,000 each in compensation for the extra 48 hours.

Hostages
What an absolute farce the ECHR has become! These were pirates caught in the act with the ‘loot’ on them, so there is no question of their guilt, but the French authorities must pay them compensation because they were not charged immediately they got on French soil.

ECHR – Always Weighted In Favour Of The Criminal