The trial of the six Somali men arrested on land in 2008 by French paratroopers has ended with four found guilty and two acquitted. The men found guilty have been sentenced to between four and ten years. The person who received ten years had admitted during interrogation to being a pirate.
The group were arrested after paratroopers used a helicopter to stop a taxi they were travelling in, and had been held in custody since then. The two youngest were acquitted.
French prosecution are appealing the sentences, they say that they are too lenient.
Showing posts with label acquitted. Show all posts
Showing posts with label acquitted. Show all posts
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Acquitted in France
On 30 November five Somali men were sentenced in France to between four and eight years for hi-jacking a French yacht in 2008. One man was acquitted. Prosecutors have appealed and that means that the acquitted man, the father of a now seven year-old boy, must stay in France in a state of limbo. The new court case could be up to nine months away.
On the day he was acquitted, the prison, where he had been remanded, called the court translator to come and collect him - there was no one else there to support him and he was scared to leave the prison. He was finally released at night into the streets of Paris with only his prison earnings, and with no papers, no work permit and knowing only a few words of French. He was lucky he had the translator to help him.
He had arrived, hooded and hand-cuffed, in France three years earlier. The only glimpses of France he had were from his cell window and during transportation to and from the court case. He says that he "guessed it was a country where there was light everywhere, a fertile country where it rained all the time." He said that on television he watched football and managed to learn a few words of French.
On release, three years after he was arrested, he still has the scars from the handcuffs and the memory that on that day the man next to him was shot dead by the French troops.
Now he has applied for asylum and must wait for another courtcase.
On the day he was acquitted, the prison, where he had been remanded, called the court translator to come and collect him - there was no one else there to support him and he was scared to leave the prison. He was finally released at night into the streets of Paris with only his prison earnings, and with no papers, no work permit and knowing only a few words of French. He was lucky he had the translator to help him.
He had arrived, hooded and hand-cuffed, in France three years earlier. The only glimpses of France he had were from his cell window and during transportation to and from the court case. He says that he "guessed it was a country where there was light everywhere, a fertile country where it rained all the time." He said that on television he watched football and managed to learn a few words of French.
On release, three years after he was arrested, he still has the scars from the handcuffs and the memory that on that day the man next to him was shot dead by the French troops.
Now he has applied for asylum and must wait for another courtcase.
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