-total of 78 years
Six Guyanese pirates have been sentenced to a total of 78 years in jail in Suriname after being found guilty of several charges including robbery, abduction and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Judge Iwan Rasoelbaks sentenced Philbert Cush, Winston Bidesh and Junior Sookdeo to 14 years in jail each while Churmandatt Sookdeo, Tony Sookwah and Stevie Latchman were each sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, media reports out of that country said.  Their ages range from 25 to 35 years.

Among the robberies they had committed was one in which they attacked a yacht off the country’s coast in March last year. One media report said that prosecuting officer, Cynthia Klein demanded the sentences. According to the media report, the men in a statement to the court said that they were hard-working and had denied that they were involved in piracy. They pleaded for the Judge to send them home. Sookwah burst into tears when his sentence was read.

The six-member gang had been captured in a police operation in March last year. Reports at the time stated that fishermen operating in the Coppename River in Suriname had said they had been attacked and had their boats seized. They said at least ten boats were hijacked and fuel, food and other valuables taken from them.

At the time, the Surinamese police had said that inquiries had revealed that the six-man gang had been targeting fishing boats but managed to elude Suriname police by hiding in Guyana after their attacks. They had been carrying out their attacks for a period of time.

On March 29 last year, six fishermen operating in the Coppename River were attacked and police units were dispatched to the area resulting in the ultimate capture of the six men.

Police had revealed that four of the pirates’ victims were captured and bound and gagged while their boat was seized. Two were ordered to accompany the assailants in another vessel and further attacks were carried out on other fishing boats.

Suriname’s Maritime Police units and members of the Anti-Terror Unit (ATE) were able to spot one of the boats that had been hijacked and subsequently arrested two suspects and freed the four fishermen who were being held hostage.  As the search for the remaining pirates continued, at around 7 am the next day, officers from the Anti-Terror Unit located the second boat and subsequently arrested the other four pirates, who were holding the remaining two victims. Several barrels of fuel were found on the boat where four of the victims were being held captive.

The fishermen were claiming that they were robbed of money, outboard engines and catch while they were also brutally beaten. All of the victims were Guyanese nationals working for Surinamese boat owners.

Surinamese police in recent years have arrested Guyanese nationals, who they suspect are involved in piracy. Fishermen along the Coren-tyne coast have been at the mercy of pirates in recent years.