Somaliland: Somali pirates get 15-year sentences

[Jacaylbaro]

A court in Somalia handed out 15-year prison sentences to 11 pirates on Sunday, the presiding judge said.

 

Prosecutors at the court in Berbera, in the breakaway northern state of Somaliland, brought a number of charges against the men, including piracy and attempted armed kidnapping.

 

They showed the court photos obtained from NATO naval forces showing the pirates when they were arrested last December.

 

"The trial, which lasted a week, was finally concluded today after the evidence brought before the court showed that the eleven were involved in piracy and hijacking. The court finally announced its verdict -- a jail term of 15 years each", Osman Ibrahim Dahir, the presiding judge, told AFP by phone from Berbera.

 

The pirates were detained last December after they attacked an international naval force ship mistaking it for a commercial ship off the Somali coast.

 

The international forces released them after disarming them, but they were arrested against a few days later by Somaliland coastguards who spotted them in a coastal village near Djibouti.

 

"Some of the pirates confessed their crimes while others were still reluctant to confess, but they were sentenced and sent to jail," Jamal Abdikarin, security officer in Berbera told AFP by phone.

 

 

AFP

[B]

was there due process and a fair trial?

[NGONGE]

^^ Does it sound to you like there was?

 

The NATO forces took their guns and let them go. A few days later, the SL coastguards find them in a coastal village and arrest them for that crime.

[Qudhac]

ngonge nato

 

cannot put them on trail all they can do disarm and release them

[NGONGE]

^^ I understand all of that but I still feel it was not much of a fair trial.

[Jacaylbaro]

u want them released again ?

[Thankful]

"The trial, which lasted a week, was finally concluded today after the evidence brought before the court showed that the eleven were involved in piracy and hijacking. The court finally announced its verdict -- a jail term of 15 years each", Osman Ibrahim Dahir, the presiding judge, told AFP by phone from Berbera.

Nothing like those 1 week trials where a 15 year sentence can be handed down so quickly. Quite sad!

 

Most places it takes longer to choose a place to have the trial or to select a jury and gather evidence! Not in this case.

 

I wonder if any of those NATO naval forces were ever brought as witnesses to the one week trial. I also wonder why the judge and prosecution is only mentioned, but no statement from the defense attorneys. Will these guys be able to appeal the decision?

 

"Some of the pirates confessed their crimes while others were still reluctant to confess, but they were sentenced and sent to jail," Jamal Abdikarin, security officer in Berbera told AFP by phone.

 

NW Somalia thinks this is news that will make them look good, but they don't realize a one week trial that hands down a 15 year sentence makes you look ridiculous. Anyone reading would know it's nonesense!

[Thankful]

Come on Oodweyne, lets be honest here. The reason why this article was written in English and sent to different media outlets around the world was to send a message to those outside of Somalia, it was not (as you want us to believe) ment for the pirates! Security officer Jamal Abdikarin was speaking to the AFP because he wanted to send a message to the world.

 

I am saying that this message will backfire and make NW Somalia look like it has a poorly run justice system, that can finish trials in a week!

[GAAROODI]

to liberal......give them the death penalty. bring them to hargaisa stadium and chop off there heads.

 

that would signal something....to them !

 

THIS IS SOMALILAND...........NOT PIRATELAND.

[NGONGE]

Originally posted by ThankfulSP:

Come on Oodweyne, lets be honest here. The reason why this article was written in English and sent to different media outlets around the world was to send a message to those outside of Somalia, it was not (as you want us to believe) ment for the pirates! Security officer Jamal Abdikarin was speaking to the AFP because he wanted to send a message to the world.

 

I am saying that this message will backfire and make NW Somalia look like it has a poorly run justice system, that can finish trials in a week!

If you read the article, it does mention that NATO has supplied SL with photos. This trial seems to have been conducted with the full approval of NATO, saaxib. The PR element is obviously there but the shock you assume the world will get from it (or at least the powers that be) is misplaced.

 

Jb,

Yes I expect them (and want them) to be released. Waxba ha qoslin, tomorrow it will be you being sentenced to fifteen years for some nonsensical crime.

 

Guru,

Adeer, wrong is wrong regardless of the country or my feelings for it. Yes, SL is not as advanced as the TV shows you mention (which I don't actually watch, I hate crime stories), however, it will never improve if you and I try to brush everything under the carpet and use excuses about sending a message or that the system is a work in progress, etc.

[Paragon]

Originally posted by Jacaylbaro:

A court in Somalia

handed out 15-year prison sentences to 11 pirates on Sunday, the presiding judge said.

 

Prosecutors at the court in Berbera, in the breakaway northern state of Somaliland, brought a number of charges against the men, including piracy and attempted armed kidnapping.

 

They showed the court photos obtained from NATO naval forces showing the pirates when they were arrested last December.

 

"The trial, which lasted a week, was finally concluded today after the evidence brought before the court showed that the eleven were involved in piracy and hijacking. The court finally announced its verdict -- a jail term of 15 years each", Osman Ibrahim Dahir, the presiding judge, told AFP by phone from Berbera.

 

The pirates were detained last December after they attacked an international naval force ship mistaking it for a commercial ship off the

Somali coast

.

 

The international forces released them after disarming them, but they were arrested against a few days later by

Somaliland coastguards

? who spotted them in a coastal village near Djibouti.

 

"Some of the pirates confessed their crimes while others were still reluctant to confess, but they were sentenced and sent to jail," Jamal Abdikarin, security officer in Berbera told AFP by phone.

 

 

AFP

The first sentence gives away all the secrets of that sham trial. The article clearly states 'a court in Somalia' but not in 'Somaliland', hence that makes the supposed court trial a Kangaroo dance on a red dune. There exists no recognised court of (Somali) law in the NW of Somalia - currently.

 

Whatever happens in the Somali coast remains under the jurisdiction of Somali (read:Somalia) courts. There is no need to take the play-acting memes and mimics of statehood seriously. The men held hostage should be set free. Ma been baan isku maaweelineynaa mise dhab?

[Sherban Shabeel]

What a load of BS. Prisons in Puntland are teeming with pirates, so it's not like Somalilalaland invented anything new. Also, 15 years is a very harsh sentence for someone trying to make a little money. They didn't kill or injure anyone, and pirates seldom (or never) do nowadays.

 

Also, everyone likes Somali pirates. So this ridiculous PR stint is doomed to fail anyway.

 

Find some other stuff to be proud about. Geez.

[Qudhac]

indeed this harshe punishment will be deter pirates from our water. unlike the pirateland who become home all sorts of criminals, human trafickers and drug dealers.

 

i hate spineless fools who worry about the time these criminals got instead of asking what would criminals think if these pirates were allowed to use our waters as center of criminal activity.

 

 

well done to somaliland navy who arrested these criminals and put them through the court.

 

let this stiff sentence be lesson for any crimal coming from puntland.

[NGONGE]

^^ If they were caught red handed it would be a different story altogether. I just worry that arbitrary sentences of fifteen years set a very dangerous precedent for future cases (piracy or otherwise).

[Cyber_Nomad]

I say HANG THEM