Kenyan authorities have ordered the release of nine pirates because they claim to lack the jurisdiction to try them.
But the issue over who can prosecute for crimes committed in international waters is adding to the piracy problem in the region.
The question now is what happens to those suspects and convicts in Kenyan cells.
Al Jazeera's Catherine Soi reports from the Kenyan city of Mombasa on the legal imbroglio.
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