Teen Somali piracy suspect pleads not guilty in NY

[BlueJessamine]

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A Somali teenager accused of leading a pirate attack on an American cargo ship off the coast of Africa pleaded not guilty Thursday to piracy charges.

A somber-looking Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse entered the plea in a soft voice with his head down during a brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Afterward, his lawyers said Muse has been kept in solitary confinement since being captured in his impoverished nation and brought to the United States last month — a predicament that's left him scared and confused. They continued to deny the U.S. government's claim that their client is 18.

"He's a boy who fishes and now he's ended up in solitary confinement," said one of the lawyers, Deirdre von Dornum. "It's truly terrifying."


Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5izUbtx1o15cqD9GcYDcuI16mUxQQD98AO8DG0

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Muse's age has been in dispute since his arrest.


Wikipedia:

He was born in either 1990 (according to the US Government), 1992 (according to his mother), or 1993 (according to his father) in Gaalkacyo, in Puntland - one of the two semi-autonomous states carved out of Somalia's North.<2><3><4><5><6> His age is disputed. His mother, Adar Abdirahman Hassan, asserts he was only sixteen. His father, Abdiqadir Muse, asserts he was born in November 1993—which would make him fifteen. Assistant United States Attorney Brendan McGuire informed US District Court Judge Andrew J. Peck at a hearing to determine Wal-i-Musi's age that he had told Americans he was 16, 18, 19, and 26 years old.

[bsd13]

1. Too bad he's finding out the hardway

that there are some mistakes that you can't take back.

[eilen]

2. He should be placed in a rehabilitation

by what jury of his peers is his case to be decided upon? The US court system is not appropriate for him. I have big problems with children being tried as adults. We don't know how he was socialized into piracy. Look at the boy soldiers in Sierra Leone and other countries. They have learned such behavior to survive. Rehabilitation is the best course. The US has no appropriate facility as we are too invested in prison systems.

[The Croquist]

3. Frankly I'm more concerned

about the people he pointed a gun at then him. There is no question about him being on the scene and the scene was in the Indian ocean, on a ship that he had no business being on. He wasn't a stowaway. He was there as a pirate.

You can argue that he either is or isn't a minor but I don't care. He was certainly old enough to know that he shouldn't be pointing guns in peoples faces and kidnapping them. Maybe he skipped civics class in school. Maybe his mother and father didn't teach him the whole "thou shalt not kill or steal" thing. Maybe he chose poorly.

He had a chance at a lousy life and blew it. Now he has a chance of living the rest of his life behind bars. If the US doesn't try him who do you think should? Somalia?

He kidnapped US citizens, seized their ship and pointed a gun in their faces. Personally I think he should have received a trial on the USS Bainbridge and hung.

[ima_sinnic]

4. so when the neighborhood warlord told him he would work for him as a pirate or else,

what should he have done?

"Skipped civics class"? At what taxpayer-funded, nice shiny bright public school?

Your monumental ignorance of the details of lives far away and unthinkable in your terms is to be expected of wussie Americans, who think life is simply an easy matter of choosing between "a life of crime," or some "respected" "career" after they get 12 years of free education and 3 square meals a day in a multi-room house with a big kitchen w stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, pool, rec room, entertainment room, separate bedrooms for everybody, big yard, and a big shiny car or two to drive to McDonald's and the supermarket for prepackaged, precooked "food" that mommy and daddy pay for out of that big roll of bills.

go back to sleep in your nice soft private bed, and stop passing judgment on people about whom you are abysmally ignorant and holier-than-thou.

[The Croquist]

8. Thanks for the kind words

There are about 8 million Somalis. Are you saying that poverty has driven all 8 million of them to piracy? I know that poverty sucks but that is no excuse for a life as a violent criminal. Somalia is a hell hole because of people like this and that local "warlord" whom you blame his situation on.

I have no sympathy for criminals whether they be pirates or bankers.

PS: I don't have granite counter-tops.

[depakid]

17. "I don't have granite counter-tops."

I think that was meant more as metaphor....

[bitchkitty]

22. Don't be obtuse.

Of course not all 8 million people are pirates. Some are a little better off than others. But many live in grinding poverty and become thieves, prostitutes, and yes, pirates, to survive. Many don't survive at all.

I'm not saying it's right to steal. Just that your reality, no matter the state of your countertops, is far, far different than that of the average Somali citizen.

[panzerfaust]

14. The Alternative? After all it is charged that ...

"...Muse was indicted earlier this week on 10 counts including piracy under the law of nations, conspiracy, hostage taking, kidnapping and possession of a machine gun while seizing a ship by force. If convicted of the most serious charge, he faces a mandatory life sentence.

When the Maersk Alabama was attacked, it was carrying humanitarian supplies about 280 miles off the Somali coast. U.S. authorities say Muse led the attack on the ship, firing his AK-47 assault rifle at {ship Captain} Phillips..."

It is difficult to accept that any reason he may hold for committing this alleged piracy should absolve him of responsibility.

[zonkers]

19. Bet you'd think differently if you were the one staring down the barrel of a gun or your family were

being held hostage in the jungle or had family members being held.

[eilen]

15. Have you lived in Somalia?

Do you know what life is for young people there? What kinds of choices there are? May be his choice was work for the pirate gang run by his local warlord or die. If that is his family, why wouldn't he do everything he could to enrich them? These pirate gangs hold the ships hostage for money, they work together sharing information, even have pirating workshops. Merchant shipping firms around the world do not share information. So pirates have an edge. To them this is legitimate business. It is how they survive in a world that offers little option. Perhaps if the international community dealt with the problems Somalia was facing prior to treating them like a toxic waste dump, they would not be dealing with this problem now. I think it is quite a large problem to be hanging on the shoulders of a 19 year old kid who likely is illiterate and despite what you may think was not pocketing the ransom, enriching himself.

[The Croquist]

18. The Mafia is kind of like a family too

I don't see people defending their actions or explaining it away because they think it is a "legitimate business".

I know Somalia sucks but he is part of the problem. When the ship was seized it was carrying relief supplies for guess where? That's right Somalia! How likely are the crew members of this ship going to be willing to make another trip there? Do you really think these people take the ransom money and buy food for the people. It's more likely they buy cars for themselves and then drive them to a nearby village where they either buy or just grab a twelve year old girl for that nights entertainment.

I agree that the world should try and help Somalia more but they also need to help themselves. The US tried under Bush/Clinton and the results weren't pretty. What do you suggest? There is no law or government. We sent troops in and we ended up in a mini-war. Without law there is little that can be accomplished.

Here is an article from 12/13/05
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5052065

The MV Torgelow returned to her home port in Mombasa, Kenya, last weekend after being held for 53 days by pirates off the coast of Somalia. The cargo ship, which was carrying relief supplies to Somalia, is one of 33 vessels that have reported being attacked by pirates off Somali since March.

The large cargo ship -- half a football field long -- was en route to Somalia to resupply one of its sister ships, the MV Semlow, which had just been released after being held for 101 days by pirates. The Semlow had been carrying relief supplies to Somalia for the U.N. World Food Program.

The relief agency says that with the ships sidelined it has been unable to get food into Somalia by sea for weeks. The WFP resorted to using a truck convoy, which had to pass through dozens of road blocks by various militias.


I read a more recent article on this two days ago that was dealing with the age question. According to his mother he is literate and the feds thought his father lived in Philadelphia.

[eilen]

20. I'm certain that this individual

does not have the advantage of your long view from the US. He actually lives there. It is likely relief may be held up for any other reasons, particularly the government which is corrupt, most likely will be squeezing out the bribes before any "reilef" is distributed. From the warlord's point of view, why shouldn't they also gain?

[The Croquist]

21. THERE IS NO GOVERNMENT OF SOMALIA!

At least no effective government. Somalia is like a bad Mel Gibson, Mad Max movie. The people kill each other to survive. The "government" is just the warlord de jour, just like the warlord that runs the pirate operation that this pirate works for. The warlord and the teen-pirate, Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, are the problem. They are the ones that have destroyed the country and are preventing Somalia from recovering not some mythical plot by some mythical International consortium of the super rich.

Why shouldn't they also gain? Gain what? Money while their fellow citizens die by the thousands? These people hijack ships sending supplies to their own fucking country to save the lives of their own fucking fellow citizens. They get a ransom and send the ship on its merry way. They don't distribute the food or medicine. All they care about are themselves. These guys make Ken Lay look like Mother Teresa.

Here's a radical idea:
Maybe they can help. Why don't they provide security so a relief ship can dock in Somalia, or their part of Somalia instead of in Kenya. That way the supplies won't have to be driven over hundreds of miles of lousy roads (no doubt the fault of the "International consortium of the super rich"), costing a fortune, stopping every 20 miles or so to pay a "toll" from the local warlord.

Then they might be part of the solution. Naa, that won't work.

The warlords and their accomplices should be exterminated.

[Blue_Tires]

5. i don't quite get how he is able to be tried in the U.S.

and as a juvenile, no less...

if only they could move corporate/government criminals through the legal system this fast...

[ManiacJoe]

6. In this case jurisdiction is simple.

He attacked a US-flagged ship in international waters and was captured by the US Navy. That places him 100% in US jurisdiction.

[ohio2007]

7. pro bono legal team?

just wondering the details. His Somali bosses should be able to hire the best lawyers pirate money can buy


LOL

[Deja Q]

9. And I plead "No erection when looking at him".

One of us is telling the truth.

And it isn't him.

[ohio2007]

10. Obama chats with his new ly appointed ambassador to Somalia

Barack briefs him on the "change" in diplomacy with the ship of state

[bronxiteforever]

13. Is that a picture of ManCow with the Pres?

LOL

[Dark]

11. He's younger than I am. This is fucked up in every way..

I feel bad cause of how fucked up his life had to be to get him to do this.

But, he did take someone hostage and try to hijack an American vessel.

God. This is just fucked up on so many counts.

[panzerfaust]

12. Yes, Exactement

Last night I helped to resuscitate and care for a toddler who had been beaten by a family member.

The toddler had massive brain bleeding - in addition to other injuries - and has less than 1 in a 1000 chance of NOT being brain dead.

I am quite certain, though without direct knowledge, that the perpetrator of this atrocity likely had suffered abuse as a child.

So, whilst I feel for Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse - whatever his age may be - it is alleged that he committed piracy on the high-seas.

As a now-old sailor I can say that, except for fire at sea, nothing is more feared than being boarded by pirates. As an existentialist I say that both Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, and the person who beat the toddler, chose to do what they did for reasons that seemed to them to be sufficient.

[MrSlayer]

16. You don't get caught anymore red-handed than he did.

The whole of the world knows he's guilty. We used to hang pirates back in the day.