A German court sentenced a Somali asylum-seeker to 12 years in jail on Thursday, for his involvement in the pirate hijacking of a tanker in the Indian Ocean in 2010. The judge in the Osnabrueck court in northern Germany said the man was guilty of kidnapping and severe extortion. The ship was released for a ransom of $5.5 million after eight months in the hands of Somali pirates. "After four months of extensive evidence gathering, the court is convinced that the 44-year-old Somalian was a leading member of the pirates who kidnapped a chemical tanker," said the court in a statement. The man was not named. German courts do not usually provide the full names of defendants.