In NYC, Somali Suspect Charged With Piracy

Sole Survivor Among Group Of Pirates Who Attacked U.S. Cargo Ship Cries In Court, Could Face Life In Prison

(CBS/AP)  The sole survivor among a group of pirates accused of attacking an American cargo ship off the Somali coast was charged with piracy as an adult Tuesday after a prosecutor said he gave wildly varying ages for himself but finally admitted he was 18.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck said Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse could be treated as an adult in U.S. courts after a closed hearing during which he said Muse's father gave conflicting testimony about the ages of his children.

Muse was charged with several counts, including piracy under the law of nations. That charge carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison.

In addition to piracy, he was charged with conspiracy to seize a ship by force; discharging a firearm; aiding and abetting the discharge of a firearm during a conspiracy to seize a ship by force; conspiracy to commit hostage taking; and brandishing a firearm.

Peck noted that Muse had declined to testify in court about his age.

The piracy charge falls under an obscure federal law dating to 1819 - 60 years before the invention of the light bulb, reports CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian But as pirate attacks have surged - 102 and counting already this year - bringing pirates to justice has proven to be anything but easy.

"Under the laws of the sea, any country can prosecute piracy," said naval investigator Mike Sliwa. "It just becomes a challenge to identify which country wants to and can accept them for prosecution."

Witness last weekend - after a group of pirates attacked a Norwegian tanker off the coast of Somalia, the Canadian Navy spent seven hours hunting the pirates down - only to release them because the Canadians can only arrest pirates who attack Canadian ships, Keteyian reports.

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HMCS Winnipeg Cmd. Craig Baines recounts their daring pursuit of prirates

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Muse sobbed early in the hearing when his attorneys mentioned they had contacted his family in Somalia. The judge closed the hearing for testimony about Muse's age and to decide whether he was a juvenile. After he reopened the courtroom, he had lawyers on each side recount what happened.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan McGuire said Muse initially told a Somali interpreter on April 12, when he was first detained, that he was 16, then that he was 19, then that he was 26.

Muse indicated a day later on a different U.S. Navy vessel that he was 19, McGuire said. The prosecutor said Muse told an FBI agent Monday that his age was 15 but later apologized to the agent for lying, telling him he was 18, going on 19.

McGuire said investigators also spoke to one of Muse's brothers, who indicated he was 18.

Muse is the sole surviving Somali pirate from the hostage-taking of an American ship captain from Vermont.

He arrived in New York on Monday evening, handcuffed with a chain wrapped around his waist and about a dozen federal agents surrounding him.

His left hand is heavily bandaged from a wound he suffered during the skirmish on the cargo ship, the Norfolk, Virginia-based Maersk Alabama. Muse, his 5-foot-2 frame so slight that his prison clothes draped loosely, at one point put his head in his uninjured hand.

When the judge asked him if he understood that court-appointed lawyers would represent him, the teenager responded through a translator: "I understand. I don't have any money."

When he was asked to raise his right hand, he pointed it into the air as if he was being called on in class.

Muse arrived in New York on Monday night and smiled as he was led into a government building.

"The last time I saw him he was in his school uniform," Muse's mother, Adar Abdirahman Hassan, 40, told The Associated Press by telephone Tuesday from her home in the central Somali town of Galkayo. "He was brainwashed. People who are older than him outwitted him, people who are older than him duped him."

She said he was "wise beyond his age" - a child who ignored other boys his age who tried to tease him and got lost in books instead.

"He took all his books the day he disappeared, except one, I think, and did not come back," she said, adding that she did not know which book he was reading - Hassan is illiterate.

[joadun]

What a farce and mockery of our justice system this will be. I would not be at all surprised if this pirate were allowed to stay in the USA as a free person, be given a place to live, be given free education, and allowed to bring his entire family to the USA - all on the taxpayers' backs.

[dahl123]

I thought that the law of the seas covered this captured pirates punishment. He should have been required to walk the plank or be hanged from a yardarm. Any other treatment is an insult to the merchant seamen that ply their waters. Shame on the US Navy for keeping this pirate alive.

[edward1975-2009]

They're going to love him in the joint. I hope he handles a "sword" well, he's gonna get a lot of opportunity. Shiver me timber is going to take on a whole new meaning.

[cattiej]

I suggest putting this guy in a boat in international waters, the North Pole area would be a good place. Get this twerp out of our country.. like another comment....my head hurts just from reading this.....what a waste of tax payers money.....better yet, let him out in international water and let him swim to Somali....and I don't care to read from some bleeding heart who thinks this would be inhumane....this guy would think nothing of using an AK-47 to blow off your head for a few thousand dollars....yes, thousands and millions...that's what they have ransomed other humans for and have been paid by these companys who don't want their people shot and want they ships back......

[jonesjep]

Did you see this tough guy cry like a little baby girl today!!! I bet he thought he was pretty darn tough when he and his people were holding their AK's to a unarmed mans head. He thought he was some sort of a man and then craps in his pants and asks for mercy on the Navy ship. Instead of taking a bullet in the head he will be someones girlfriend for the next 50 years. The US does not negociate with 3rd world losers who are too stupid to see they have no way out. The reason you do not pay ransom to these pukes is the same reason you do not feed the bears at National Parks. Because they are too dumb to know when to stop and too dangerous to let continue. My guess is that a few more of these mindless punks will attack a US ship again. They will meet with the same .308 bullet from a Navy seal sniper rifle then they will paddle away in their row boats for the last time.

[krzeaz]

Whatever ya do, don't let him emigrate here to the US. We have too many of his kind in our cities right now. These are the same Somalians who attacked and killed the soldiers sent to save them, when they landed in BlackHawk down.

[wdh3007]

They should have made this guy walk the plank or found an extra round now people who live in New York will pay for his new room clothes and 3 meals a day on tax payer dollars what a waste.

[BigBlackBalls]

Why is the Craiglist killer who shot, beat, and viciously murdered two and possibly more innocent women handcuffed in the front, and dressed like an All American innocent kid. But the 16 year old Somali boy, who didn't kill anyone, and was probably trying to gets some money to feed his 5'2 120 pound frame, put in a prison jumpsuit, shackled as if he just murdered a white house staff member, and demonized in the Media worst the Ted Bundy. In America Perception is everything.

[swami545]

so that's the 15 year old???? He must have some rare disease that makes him look older because he looks triple that.

Must be similar to the disease that the Chinese gymnasts had.

[rave_on3]

ok will do.....as soon as i pull my c ock out of your mammas A S S
Posted by clamedia2 at 5:32 PM : Apr 21, 2009

Ha ha! Jokes on you as Arthur comes from one of them new fangled 'progressive' familes. In all actuality, both of his parents are male even though he refers to one as 'Mommy.'

P.s. Remember to practice safe sex, cowboy.

[vietnamwar]

His father said he is 15 ??? wow, he does look like a 15 year old boy with the Mustag may be we should ask OBAMA

[smoknmirrors]

He was pretty tough when he and his buddies had that unarmed captain as their prisoner. Now he cries. Why? A life sentence in an American prison promises food, clothing, shelter, prayer time, religious rituals, medical care, probably a free copy of the Koran, even a chance for a college education. Surely that is an improvement over what his life would be like in Somalia. If we aren't careful, they'll be surrendering in droves.

[ToolMangler1]

Them 300 foot super tankers? Thats how big a fat cat is..
Posted by arthur796 at 4:19 PM : Apr 21, 2009

Somali pirates build up defences after making ransom demand
Nov 21, 2008 ... We are here to defend the tanker if attacked," Abdiyare Moalim said. ... 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of lawless Somalia's capital Mogadishu ... He did not specify the threatened action but the 330-metre (1000-foot) long tanker ... of a huge catastrophe if oil from the super-tanker was released.

[ToolMangler1]

Well then thats what all this stuff is really about, ain't it..
Posted by arthur796 at 4:16 PM : Apr 21, 2009



Shut down the shipping and Chavez will sell you all the goods you want (at his prices)

[ToolMangler1]

Yah.. goods from overseas. Goods that we got here..
Posted by arthur796 at 4:12 PM : Apr 21, 2009



That use to be true, but all of the Textile manufacturing plants in my area are shut down. and so are most of the farms

[mjinba07]

Poor young man may have a better life as far as health and nutrition in a U.S. prison than back in Somalia.

Yes we need to bring him to justice, yes we have to be tough on pirates. But who can blame Somali people for trying to harvest the schools of rich "fish" swimming past their shores... When they have almost no opportunities to thrive by legal means in their own land.

I don't know what the answer is, but it won't be capturing and prosecuting the pirates. I'd bet there will be 10 more for every one caught.

[ToolMangler1]

I truly wish that I could arrange that scenario and film it. LOLOL

[goffredo29]

What people need to do is go read A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier and ask themselves whether we want to be hunting down boy soldiers or finding them to help them.

[ToolMangler1]

I'd set flank speed.. and watch them burn up their tiny gas tanks try'n to catch me.
Posted by arthur796 at 4:06 PM : Apr 21, 2009



The idea was for you with the superior weapons to 'Catch' them, take them prisoner, and show us pictures of the 'adventure'

[ToolMangler1]

15 foot fishing boat verses the.. 300 foot battlecruiser. Gee..
Posted by arthur796 at 4:00 PM : Apr 21, 2009



Its more than possible that a group of navy Seals in a 15 ft fishing boat can capture or sink a 300 ft battlecruiser. We'll let you be tha captain of the Cruiser.....