Conference and Arrests

At the end of October the six men on trial in Spain were convicted of piracy related charges, and at the beginning of November another trial began in the USA. There was also the arrest in Belgium of Mohamed Abdi Hassan (also known as "Afweyne" or Big Mouth). Hassan was arrested at the Brussels airport on 12th October after been invited to Belgium on the ruse of becoming an advisor on a film about piracy around the Horn of Africa. Others who may be involved with piracy have also recently been invited to Belgium but there will be no actual trial of them, they are attending a conference hosted by Environmental Justice Foundation on illegal fishing. Pirate fishing around the Horn of Africa is a key focus at the November conference and countries that are criticised as not taken action against IUUs (or 'pirate' vessels) are attending. 

Spain, in publicity about the conference, is listed as one of those countries, however it was in Spain that the six men were sentenced just under a month ago - one man to 12-and-a-half years in prison and the other five to eight years in jail each. The men have been in Spain awaiting trial since October 2012 so have already served one year. In 2011 two men convicted of piracy by a Spanish court received sentences of 439 years each.

The trial in the US is of a former Washington DC resident, Ali Mohamed Ali, who is charged with helping Somali pirates who seized a Danish cargo vessel in November 2008. His defence is that he was actually working for the US as an intelligence source. Ali is charged with piracy, conspiracy, attacking a vessel and hostage-taking, and faces life in prison if convicted. He has been held in jail for two and a half years. Another person, Mohammad Saaili Shibin, charged in the American courts with negotiating was convicted in August 2012 and sentenced to "10 concurrent life sentences...two consecutive life sentences...10 years consecutive...and two 20-year sentences... and is also required to pay restitution in the amount of approximately $5,408,000US."

The event promises to offer a lively debate on where responsibilities lie in taking urgent measures to tackle IUU fishing, which costs the global economy an estimated US$ 10 to 23.5 billion and represents between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish. - See more at: http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/21697/landmark-event-encourages-eu-member-states-to-take-stronger-action-on-illegal-fishing#sthash.mqxrp5QY.dpuf

Publicity about the Environmental Justice Foundation says the conference will involved 'a lively debate on where responsibilities lie in taking urgent measures to tackle IUU fishing, which costs the global economy an estimated US$ 10 to 23.5 billion and represents between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish'.

The event promises to offer a lively debate on where responsibilities lie in taking urgent measures to tackle IUU fishing, which costs the global economy an estimated US$ 10 to 23.5 billion and represents between 11 and 26 million tonnes of fish. - See more at: http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/21697/landmark-event-encourages-eu-member-states-to-take-stronger-action-on-illegal-fishing#sthash.mqxrp5QY.dpuf

Italian Court-case Ends

On 30th November an Italian court sentenced the nine Somali men on trial in Rome to between 16 and 19 years in prison for attempted kidnapping for extortion and illegal possession of firearms. But the charges of terrorism were not held. The prosecution were unable to prove any links with terrorism.

In 2011 the men had allegedly attempted to hijack an Italian-flagged cargo ship. The four teenagers arrested at the same time were tried separately as juveniles and sentenced in June to eight years in prison each.

Another trial in Italy is set to begin this week. This one is against eleven men arrested in January this year - these men were not charged with terrorism.

In France: Four Guilty, Two Acquitted

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.

Life in Abu Dhabi

Ten Somali people accused of piracy were sentenced to 25 years each on Tuesday 22 May for the hi-jacking of a UAE ship on 1st April last year.

The ship was travelling from Australia to Jelel Ali with a load of aluminium when it was hi-jacked and held for one day before a US warship, one of the CTF151 ships boarded the ship and arrested the Somali people on board.

The court ruled that the men would all be deported to Somalia after they had served their sentence.

Convicted in the USA

One of the first ever alleged 'pirates' renditioned from Somalia to the USA, Mohammad Saaili Shibin, was found guilty on 27th April of charges of piracy, hostage taking, kidnapping and conspiracy. The prosecution said that he worked as a hostage negotiator for both the hijacking of an American yacht in February 2011 and a German merchant ship in 2010, and as a result earned between $30,000 and 50,000US for negotiating the ransom payments.

He faces a mandatory life sentence of life in a U.S. prison. Mohammad Saaili Shibin's lawyer has said that the conviction will be appealed. He says that the case should have been heard in Somalia rather than his client been kidnapped and taken to the USA.

In connection with the hi-jacking of the American yacht, there have already been other people convicted: eleven Somali men have been sentenced to life imprisonment and it was announced on 1st May that three more men who are defending the charges will face the death penalty if convicted.

Those already sentenced to prison have also been ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution.

The hijacking of the yacht in February last year resulted in the death of the couple who owned the boat, two guests on the boat, and four of the alleged pirates. After the incident, the US apparently reviewed their policy in relation to piracy around the Gulf of Aden.

South Korea Up-date

South Korea announced in the week before Christmas that it has extended its anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia for one more year. Cheonghae, the name of the mission, was the first ever over-seas deployment of South Korean navy forces.

It is also interesting to note that one of Cheonghae's first roles in May 2009 involved the 'rescuing' of a North Korean ship. It is also interesting that despite the growing tensions in the South China Sea and the accusations by South Korea that China is aiding piracy there, China and South Korea continue to work together in the waters off the Horn of Africa.

And in the same week that the mission was extended, the South Korean Supreme Court heard the appeal against sentencing by a group of Somali men. The five were convicted of hi-jacking a South Korean ship in January 2011, one man was sentenced to life and the other four were sentenced to between 12 to 15 years each. The appeal was denied and the sentences were upheld.

It would have been an interesting court case, the South Korean courts were unable to find a Somali / Korean translator - instead there were four translators: one Somali (Somali/English), two Koreans (English/Korean) and one Korean University Professor to translate Arabian into Korean.

Court cases continue

Nine Somali men have now been sentenced to life imprisonment in the USA for the hijacking of a US yacht in February 2011, two more men are yet to be sentenced and three are defending the charges. These three face the death penalty if convicted.

Those sentenced to prison have also been ordered to pay $400,000 in restitution.

Earlier this year, in May, the US courts sentenced Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, a 15-year old, to 33 years and nine months in prison. He was tried as an adult despite evidence that he was only a young teenager and despite the fact that the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, confirmed the group that Muse was part of were "untrained teenagers with heavy weapons."  The other three teenagers in the group were killed by US snipers.

Muse is not the only teenager sentenced or facing trial in foreign lands. In the Netherlands one of the people sentenced there said he was only 13 years old, so-called expert tests put his age at between 14 and 15 years.

In Germany, ten Somali are being tried in a Hamburg juvenile court as three of the group are teenagers.

In Japan a teenager is to be tried in a youth court, the three others in the group will be tried as adults.

'Pirates' sentenced in Paris

On Wednesday, 30 November, five Somali men were sentenced in France to between four and eight years for hijacking a French yacht and taking the crew hostage in September 2008, three years ago. The five were originally part of a group of seven, however one man was killed at the time of the incident, and one other was acquited on Wednesday. He gets to return home, the other five continue their stay in French prisons.

During the week and a half trial (held in a Paris juvenile court as one of the defendents was under 18 when arrested) a psychiatrist gave evidence about the stress and difficulties the men were having being locked-up so far away from their homeland. Most of the men had had no contact with their families since their arrest. One man had set fire to his cell, the psychiatrist said that the best treatment would be for him to be back with his family in his cultural milieu.

This was the first modern piracy trial in France, however it will not be the last. There are currently 15 other Somali men and teenagers awaiting trial in three seperate piracy cases.

It is not the first piracy trial in Europe either.

In the Netherlands there has already been two trials. Five men, arrested in 2009 were sentenced in June 2010 to five years imprisonment. Five others, arrested in November 2010 were sentenced in August 2011 to terms ranging from four to seven years. 14 other men are currently on trial in two seperate court cases.

In Belgium one man has been on trial since May 2010. He was arrested in November 2009 on the basis of DNA evidence.

There have been ten men on trial in Germany since November 2010, they were arrested in April 2010. Their case is also been held in a juvenile court as three of the defendents were teenagers when arrested, one was younger than 14.

In Spain two men were arrested in October 2009 and sentenced to 439 years each in May 2011.

South Korea tries Somali men

In South Korea five Somali men were sentenced in May 2011 for their alleged part in hijacking a South Korean ship in January 2011. Four men were sentenced to between 12 and 15 years imprisonment and one man was given life. The five were originally part of a group of 13, but eight men were killed at the time of the arrest.


The man sentenced to life appealed his sentence, the sentence was upheld but now all five are appealing to the Supreme Court.

'Pirates' sentenced in the USA

The United States sentenced Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, a 15-year old, to nearly 34 years in prison in May 2011. He was arrested in May 2009, the sole survivor from a group of four alleged pirates, the others were killed by US navy sharp-shooters. All of them were under 20 years of age. Despite evidence from Somalia that Abdiwali was a juvenile, the US tried him as an adult.

Currently facing court is a man alleged to be a negotiator in two hijacking incidences. One incident involves a German yacht hijacked in May 2010. The other involves an American yacht with a crew of four, all four crew were killed and two alleged pirates also died.

A total of 14 men are currently facing charges in the US over the hijacking of this yacht. Six pleaded guilty to hijacking early and of these four have received life in prison and one other given a sentence of two concurrent life sentences. Five others later pleased guilty and are currently waiting to be sentenced to mandatory life, while three others are facing the death penalty if convicted.