MADRID (AP) — A judge indicted two suspected Somali pirates captured in connection with the hijacking of a Spanish tuna trawler, moving Monday for swift resolution of a case that is prolonging the six-week hostage crisis.

Fellow pirates are holding the Alakrana and its crew of 36 just off the coast of Somalia. Besides a ransom, the hijackers are demanding the release of the two colleagues in custody in Madrid as a condition for freeing the vessel and the sailors. They were captured Oct. 2 in open waters of the Indian Ocean.

Judge Santiago Pedraz issued the indictment in response to an urgent request Saturday from prosecutors that he decide quickly whether to file charges, so as to speed up the case.

The idea is to resolve the status of the two in custody so the government can either expel them under immigration laws if they are convicted, or possibly have them serve their sentence in Somalia.

The two men in custody — identified in the indictment as Cabdeweli Cabdullahi and Raageggesey Hassan Haji — were captured a day after the hijacking by Spanish naval forces as the men left the trawler in a skiff and headed ashore to Somalia.

The charges against them are kidnapping, armed robbery and use of weapons. The men originally faced preliminary charges of criminal association, as well.