UN: Donors to give $9.3M on Somali piracy cases

Nairobi: A United Nations (UN) official said that donors will spend $9.3 million to help Kenya and Seychelles prosecute suspected Somali pirates and improve those countries' criminal justice systems.

Alan Cole of the UN drug agency says the funding covers the costs of helping witnesses who live across the world to get to the trials when piracy cases are in progress.

It also goes to better equip police and prosecutors, and to upgrade courts and prisons in Kenya and Seychelles.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime is managing the funds that will cover 18 months of work.

There are 540 Somali piracy suspects being held in 10 countries, says Cole. Somalia's semi-autonomous region of Puntland holds more than 200 of them.