Somali Pirates: What do we do with some captured pirates?

Sadly, not a Somali pirate

Here's another article in what seems to be a semi-annual review of the problems of international law and the effort to bring captured pirates to justice - this time from the NY Times "Seized Pirates in Legal Limbo, With No Formula for Trials":

Vessels from several navies collaborating on counterpiracy are holding a total of 71 captured pirates, according to Vice Adm. Mark I. Fox, commander of the United States Navy’s Fifth Fleet. No system has been developed for prosecuting their cases.

“There is not a repeatable international process to bring them to justice,” Admiral Fox said, in a recent interview in Bahrain. “We lack a practical and reliable legal finish.”
***

The many possible permutations for prosecuting the 15 pirates now locked up in the Vinson almost perfectly capture the puzzle surrounding such cases.

The pirates are Somali. They attacked the motor vessel Sunshine, which is Greek-owned but operates under a Bahaman flag. They were detained in international waters, but in the so-called exclusive economic zone of Oman. And they had commandeered an Iranian fishing vessel and held the crew hostage for more than a month.

The Navy took the pirates into custody. But the former hostages returned to Iran, and the Sunshine simply steamed on, over the horizon and out of sight.

So which country should take the case? And how would it hold the pirates before trial, collect evidence, and arrange for foreign witnesses and foreign investigators to testify?

So, these pirates have become somewhat akin to "The Man Without a Country" , whose punishment was to be forever transferred from one ship to another to another . . .      Of course, Philip Nolan had the benefit of a trial. H/T: Lee.

Somali Pirate Convicted and Sentenced to 33 Years - But Not for Piracy

Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse, Somali Man Accused In Ship Hijackings Sentenced to Over 33 Years In Prison:

Muse pleaded guilty last May to hostage taking, kidnapping, hijacking and conspiracy and was sentenced to 33 years and nine months in prison on Wednesday.

Muse now is entitled to free cable TV, 3 squares a days, legal aid, education, books and a cot.

Which, not surprisingly,  is better than what he had in Somalia.

Except for that confinement thing.

Stone walls can a prison make.

Somali Pirates: Kenya Trials Slowed by Absent Witnesses

Reported here:

Piracy trials are being delayed by witnesses who fail to show up in court, a magistrate has said.

Mombasa chief magistrate Rosemelle Mutoka said prosecuting pirates was “pretty straightforward” and often simpler than other cases.

She said the missing witnesses had stalled the trials of 84 suspected pirates at the Shimo la Tewa Prison.

“They are very easy cases,” Ms Mutoka said.

“The problem is witnesses. Sometimes you have to adjourn a case for up to four times.”

Ms Mutoka was speaking to the new UN special adviser on legal issues related to Somali piracy, Mr Jack Lang, who is visiting Kenya.

***

She said Europe-based captains of hijacked ships often refused to come to Kenya, citing safety fears.

The chief magistrate challenged Mr Lang to produce the witnesses, saying she would soon close the cases.

“If you bring 10 to 15 witnesses, we can finish this in a week or two,” she said.

Kenya has convicted 43 Somali pirates, sentencing them from five to 20 years in Kenyan prisons.

Somali Pirates: US aims at reversing dismissal of piracy indictment

The U.S. attorneys in Norfolk's Somali pirate trial are aiming at the judge's dismissal of the "piracy" count of the charges brought against the defendants, as reported by the Washington Examiner US appealing dismissal of piracy indictment :

The U.S. government is appealing a federal judge's decision to dismiss piracy charges against five Somali defendants accused in an April attack on a U.S. Navy ship off the coast of Africa.

Prosecutors signaled their intent to appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing Friday in federal court in Norfolk, where the five are scheduled for trial. They also are seeking to delay the start of the trial, scheduled for Oct. 19, while they seek to have the piracy ruling overturned by the Richmond appeals court.

U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson on Aug. 17 dismissed the most serious charge against the Somali nationals, concluding the government failed to make the case that the men's alleged actions met the legal definition of piracy.

I suspect a basis for the appeal will be the trial court's failure to accept that certain international treaties should be used in considering what the definition of "piracy" is. While the United States is not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, it is a signatory to the predecessor to that Convention - the 1958 Convention on the Law of the Sea. Article 15 of the 1958 Convention reads:

Article 15
Piracy consists of any of the following acts:
(1) Any illegal acts of violence, detention or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(a) On the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
(b) Against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(2) Any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(3) Any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph 1 or subparagraph 2 of this article.

Shooting at ships, even if boarding is not accomplished, would seem to fall under paragraph 1 of Article 15. This argument was raised at the pretrial hearing and dismissed by the judge.

We'll see if the Court of Appeals in Richmond has a differing view.

As noted in my first post on this dismissal (here), lots of legal wise men feel the judge was in error:

. . . Prof. Eugene Kontorovich quoted here:

...The Law of the Sea treaty clearly includes attempts as part of piracy. Here the judge errs in claiming the U.S. did not ratify the treaty: it ratified the 1958 version of the treaty that had the same piracy language. And Washington accepts the current UNCLOS as stating customary international law. Moreover, the Executive has in recent times treated attempt as part of piracy. In 2006 the US Navy captured some Somalis in the Gulf of Aden and turned them over for trial in Kenya on piracy charges (the first such handover). The incident involved an attempted piracy.

The opinion’s due process argument is also pretty weak. If one is on notice that piracy is illegal under international law, isn’t one also on notice that trying to commit it will also get you in trouble, especially when as in this case the attempt failed not through lack of trying, but solely because of resistance by the would-be-victim?

Perhaps we'll see a ruling that "piracy, like pornography, is hard to define, but you know when you see it." (see Justice Stewart's concurring opinion in JACOBELLIS v. OHIO, 378 U.S. 184 (1964)).

Somali Pirates Get "Seychelled"

Reported as Seychelles serves up African justice for Somali pirates:

The Seychelles convicted 11 Somali pirates Monday in the first-ever ruling of its kind for an archipelagic nation off the coast of east Africa best known for its white sand beaches and crystal blue water.

Eight of the Somalis were convicted for committing an act of piracy and the other three for aiding and abetting an act of piracy. They were all acquitted on five other charges related to "acts of terrorism," but each will serve 10 years in prison, said a statement issued Monday by Seychelles' Supreme Court.

As noted here, the pirates tried to hijack a Seychelles Coast Guard boat.

Not a wise career move.

Though their living conditions may actually improve in jail.

Report of the attack on the Seychelles boat Topaz here. Photo shows SCG Topaz when it was in Indian service

Somali Pirates: Dutch court convicts 5 pirates

Reported here:

A Dutch court has convicted five Somalis of piracy and sentenced them to five years each in prison in the first piracy case to come to trial in Europe.

The five were convicted of attacking a freight ship in the Gulf of Aden in January 2009.

Prosecutors asked for a seven-year sentence, but the judge said he took into account the difficult conditions in Somalia that led the men to piracy.

"It is a lucky coincidence that nobody was killed or wounded" in the attack, said judge Klein Wolterink.

Somali Pirates: No Peace at Sea, No Justice in Kenya for Somali Pirates

According to Shiptalk, Kenya wants out of the Somali pirate trial business:

Kenya has formally announced it wishes to stop the prosecution of suspected Somali pirates and cancel the agreements it has to that effect with several naval powers, diplomats said Thursday. The Kenyan authorities have sent “cancellation notes” to at least two of those powers’ diplomatic representations in Nairobi, arguing it could no longer bear the burden on its prison and court systems.

Kenya has memoranda of understanding with the European Union, United States, Canada, Denmark, China and United Kingdom whereby it takes in suspects intercepted at sea and prosecutes them in courts in Mombasa.
***
More than 100 suspects have been transferred to Kenya by the Western and other warships patrolling the Indian Ocean to combat piracy.

Kenya, with the Seychelles the only littoral state that has agreed to take in suspects for prosecution, has recently complained that the strain on its over-populated prisons and congested courts was too heavy.

The agreements allowing foreign naval powers to hand over suspects to Kenya instead of taking them back home for prosecution include financial support from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

One million dollars have already been paid to Kenya for the development of its judicial and prison capacity.

Trying pirates in courts in these enlightened days is a far cry from the days of drumhead justice, as noted here:

What to do with pirates after they have been apprehended is a particularly sticky issue and it has been approached ad hoc. It is the duty of every state to act against piracy according to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). UNCLOS provides the general guidelines for how states must address the issue of piracy. The Convention allows for the reasonable boarding of a suspected pirate vessel and the arrest of those on board. It also provides that any state has the power to try pirates under its own law.

Normally under UNCLOS, Somalia would try Somali pirates caught off its coast; however, Somalia’s judicial system is essentially nonexistent. Thus, if pirates are to be tried at all, they must be tried in other countries. UNCLOS allows all states to exercise universal jurisdiction over pirates. Currently, pirates are standing trial in countries like Kenya, France and the Netherlands.

Despite the permissive provisions of UNCLOS, there are certain legal and practical road blocks in prosecuting pirates outside their home country. Many countries have particularly strict rules for prosecution. For example, Denmark and Germany can prosecute pirates only if they have threatened national interests or citizens. U.S. courts are reluctant to exercise jurisdiction unless the vessel involved is American. Most courts prefer that pirates be tried near where they are apprehended or in their home country.

Maybe there is something to be said for letting the crews of attacked ships sit in judgment of captured pirates who have been shooting at those same crews...

Somali Pirates: Turkey calls for UN-sponsored trials of captured pirates

"Somali pirates should be tried under watch of UN"- Turkey says:

Suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia should be prosecuted under the supervision of the United Nations, according to a letter sent by Turkey to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and made public here on Wednesday.

In the letter, Turkey's permanent representative to the UN, Ertugrul Apakan, suggested the formation of a judicial system to punish perpetrators and deter potential pirates from a life of criminality.

"Turkey believes that it would be useful if a mechanism is put in place in one of the countries of the region, under the supervision of the United Nations, to effectively prosecute persons suspected of piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia," said Apakan.

Currently, no clear legal regime exists to hold pirates off the coast of Somalia accountable. Normally, under the United Nations' Law of the Sea Treaty, Somalia would try its citizens. But Somalia never ratified the treaty, and is largely deemed a lawless nation without a viable government.

To make do, countries like the United States and Britain have signed Memorandums of Understanding with the Kenyan court system to try suspected pirates in a kind of Hague international tribune.

But without a clear international legal framework, many countries, like Turkey, are calling for the United Nations to coordinate a comprehensive judicial mechanism.

Nice idea,though it shows a degree of faith in the UN that I personally don't see much justification for.

"Suspected pirates?" Unless and until it's an international crime to sail in international waters with rifles (which is currently is not), RPGs and ladders "suspects" are all you are going to have unless you catch pirates boarding or occupying a ship. "Catch and release" is a bad choice, but it may be the best choice currently available.

"News Service" says "Somali 'pirate' pleads not guilty"

The BBC, a "News Service" uses "quotation marks" (a/k/a "scare quotes") to "report" on the status of a pretrial hearing in "New York": "Somali 'pirate' pleads not guilty:

A Somali man arrested after a US captain was kidnapped has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges in a New York court, including piracy.

Abde Wale Abdul Kadhir Muse was also charged with holding a hostage for ransom and armed hijacking.

He spoke through a translator during the brief appearance. His next hearing was set for 17 September.

His lawyers said they had difficulty communicating with him, and that he was "confused" about the situation.

Defence lawyer Phil Weinstein also said "they are giving him medications that he doesn't understand", AFP news agency reported.

It was unclear what the medication was for.

I dunno, maybe khat withdrawal? Usually drug use is used to attempt to excuse the crime ...

This kid is lucky only his compatriots died in the affair for which he is standing trial.

Somail Pirates: Pirate Trials

Excellent summary of the issues facing the countries who are undertaking putting captured Somali pirates on trial from the BBC in "Pirates in the dock":

***
The appearance of five suspected Somali pirates in court in the Netherlands this week and the scheduled court hearing of a Somali teenager in New York on Thursday have focused attention once more on the legal challenges posed by 21st-century piracy.

Reports that some of the suspects were enjoying their stay in Dutch prison cells and were considering eventually claiming asylum, were met with disdain by the country's foreign minister who was quoted as saying he would prefer it if they were being tried in Kenya under UN auspices.
***
But, as Cyrus Mody from the International Maritime Bureau points out, the length of time taken bringing some of these cases to trial indicates the complexities involved.

The logistical and legal burdens involved in transporting pirate suspects to Western countries can be daunting, he says.

"It is difficult getting the pieces together, the evidence, the witnesses. Who's going to pay for it all?

"And if a prosecution fails, the burden lies with that country. There is always the prospect the suspected pirate might then claim asylum," he told the BBC.

Because of such difficulties, countries are reluctant to conduct their own trials.

Geoffrey Till, professor of Maritime Studies at Kings College in London, told the anti-piracy conference that some navies were wary of bringing suspects back for trial because of European Union human rights laws, which guarantee all people, including pirates, respect for their basic rights.

Piracy is defined by UN conventions as a universal crime and each country may arrest pirates at sea and prosecute them at home.

But whether a country can prosecute arrested pirates depends on its own laws. Several countries do not know how to incorporate the convention into their domestic jurisdiction.

Criminal defense counsel will probably be using variations on the theme announced by one of the defense counsel in the Dutch courts - "Poverty made my client do it" -

A lawyer for one of five suspected Somali pirates being prosecuted in the Netherlands described his client Monday as a modern-day Robin Hood driven by poverty to hijack ships.

This isn't too surprising, since the pirates have long insisted they are de facto coast guard units, protecting the Somali coast from foreign exploiters and that the exploitation has ruined the Somali fishing grounds, forcing the former fishermen to seek other ways to earn money. Other ways including hijacking ships carrying free food for other Somalis and threatening to kill innocent crew members of ships that have had nothing to do with Somalia at all.

But I digress.

A federal grand jury has now indicted the only Somali pirate in U.S. custody. He was captured as part of the Maersk Alabama attempted seizure. Reported here:

A Somali teenager whose role in the commandeering of an American cargo ship thrust him into the international spotlight has been indicted on multiple piracy charges, authorities said Tuesday.

Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse — the only pirate to survive the siege — has been jailed in Manhattan since he was captured on April 12 and flown to the United States to face what's believed to be the first U.S. piracy prosecution in more than a century.

Muse, 18, was expected to enter a plea later 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.

Now, a common lawyer saying is that a grand jury is so much under the prosecutor's sway that a prosecutor could "indict a ham sandwich" if he wanted, though there would seem to be plenty of evidence available in the Muse case. And the money to fly in witnesses, etc.

If I were Muse, I would ask to see a menu of the educational opportunities available in federal prison and see if I could get a head start on that GED and college prep. And ask for a green suit with a nifty hat with a feather in it.

Tuesday Reading: Pirates and more

Fred Fry's Maritime Monday 160 over at gCaptain.com, featuring timely nautical topic linkage outnumbering the military ships trying to stop the Somali pirates. Photo links this week to "laid up" ships in various corners of the world.

At his home blog, Fred has pictures and video of the French taking down some pirates, including the error prone bunch that attacked a French warship. The photo shows some of the pirate fishing supplies.

As noted here earlier, the Somali pirate awaiting trial in New York has a defense lawyer "wannabe". he may want to travel to France, too, where there will be several more trials... that would demonstrate something in addition to publicity seeking...

The Turkish Navy has assumed command of CTF-151, the pirate-fighting task force off Somalia:

The U.S. Navy transferred command of the Combined Maritime Forces' (CMF) counterpiracy task force to the Turkish Navy May 3 in a ceremony held aboard Naval Support Activity Bahrain.

During the ceremony, Rear Adm. Caner Bener relieved Rear Adm. Michelle Howard as commander, Combined Task Force (CTF) 151. Howard was not able to attend the ceremony as she was conducting operations at sea.

Established in January, CTF 151 was initially commanded by the U.S. Navy. Turkey is the second nation to command the counterpiracy task force.

"As I take command, I would like to emphasize that CTF 151 will continue its critical contribution to regional maritime security and lawful maritime order," said Bener.

"Obviously, it will take time, passion and perseverance, but I believe that during my command our sincere efforts will aide in achieving the goals and objectives of the task force and will bring more stability and peace to the region."

Steeljaw Scribe takes to the movies and whaling. From the relevant to the old guys standing around the bar talking about the "good old days," sorta.

What do you do with a drunken sailor? Send the Coast Guard, then call the sheriff, as set out here. Save the drinking for the beach. By the way, May 16 kicks off National Safe Boating Week.

Some fixable issues with Marine V-22 tilt rotor aircraft on some Navy ships here:

Sustained shipboard deployment of the V-22 also has posed a slight challenge to the service. It was discovered that on smaller deck amphibious ships, heat from the downward-pointing nacelles could potentially warp the stringers underneath the deck plates. “We’re concerned with heat on the LPD and LSD decks because the steel is so thin,” Trautman said, adding that the service has “worked through that challenge.”

One solution is to tilt the nacelles forward slightly, which gives 35 minutes of operational time on deck.

The other option is deck plates that provide protection up to 90 minutes. The Marine Corps is working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research to find coatings for the deck, particularly in light of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The exhaust from the JSF’s auxiliary power unit has the potential to cause similar heating problems, so the joint program office is working on the issue now, Trautman said.

Whack a Dolt: "The Pirate and the Talk Show Lawyer"

Nice take down of a pirate defense lawyer wannabe at ExportLawBlog in "The Pirate and the Talk Show Lawyer":

Of course, that hasn’t stopped lawyer-turned-radio-host Ron Kuby, who is seeking to defend Muse, from trying to concoct a dubious theory questioning U.S. jurisdiction over Muse.

I think in this particular case, there’s a grave question as to whether America was in violation of principles of truce in warfare on the high seas. This man seemed to come onto the Bainbridge under a flag of truce to negotiate. He was then captured. There is a question whether he is lawfully in American custody and serious questions as to whether he can be prosecuted because of his age.

Presumably this is a reference to Article 32 of the 1907 Hague Convention Respecting the Law and Customs of War on Land (Hague IV), which at least might arguably be said to also state the international law regarding wars at sea. That provision states:

A person is regarded as a parlementaire who has been authorized by one of the belligerents to enter into communication with the other, and who advances bearing a white flag. He has a right to inviolability, as well as the trumpeter, bugler or drummer, the flag-bearer and interpreter who may accompany him.

Even leaving aside the formality of the white flag, and there is no indication that Muse carried one, Hague IV and the international law governing conflicts at sea only applies to nations at war. Historically pirates have been considered hostes humani generis (”enemies of all mankind”) and completely outside protection of maritime law. Conventions relating to the conduct of war by nations have no application to them. Instead, the only protections that pirates have are those set forth in the UNCLOS and the 1958 Convention on the High Seas, both of which give the pirates a right to a trial.

The initial court hearing seems to have taken care of the age issue (here).

Somali Pirate Gets Full Media Sympathy Treatment

He might have been a Boy Scout or a Key Club member. In fact, given the glow of this AP piece, he might go straight to sainthood - see here:

Muse grew up poor in a one-room home, the eldest child of a divorced mother, in one of the most impoverished, violent countries in the world. A nation of around 8 million people, Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991. A quarter of Somali children die before age 5 and nearly every public institution has collapsed.

Muse's mother sells milk at a small market every day, saving around $6 every month for school fees for her oldest son. She pays 15 dollars a month in rent.

"I cried when I saw the picture of him," Hassan said, referring to the photo of her son being led in handcuffs in New York. "Relatives brought a copy of the picture to me. Surely he is telling himself now, 'My mother's heart is broken.'"

She said the last time she saw her son in person, she was pushing him out the door so he would not be late for school.

Since that day weeks ago, he simply disappeared. Asked why she believed he left, Hassan was at a loss.

Well, I can tell you why he left. All the cool kids are out capturing ships for ransom, holding crews hostage at gun point while robbing them of their personal belongings, shooting at ships with AK-47s and RPGs, and driving big cars. And getting all the pretty girls.

Sorry about your poverty, ma'am, but that hardly makes your family unique in this world nor does it provide an excuse for piracy - which, as we keep hearing, is really all about being like being the Coast Guard for Somalia, which is how Muse ended up being involved in an attack on a large ship several hundred miles off the coast of Somalia -way beyond where coast guards work.

But we saw this coming, didn't we?

You gotta understand,
It's just our bringin' up-ke
That gets us out of hand.

UPDATE: Charged, as reported here:

The decision to treat him as an adult led to the unsealing of a criminal complaint by FBI Agent Steven E. Sorrells that provided dramatic new details about the ship's seizure and what transpired before U.S. snipers shot three Somali pirates and Muse was captured.

Sorrells wrote that the ship's captain, Richard Phillips, told him he fired multiple warning flares at the pirates' boat to try to chase them away.

The agent said Muse was the first pirate to board the boat, armed with a gun, as it was about 280 miles off the Somali coast.

"From the deck of the Maersk Alabama, Muse fired his gun at the captain who was still in the bridge," Sorrells said.

The agent said Muse entered the bridge, told the captain to stop the ship and "conducted himself as the leader of the pirates."

After the other pirates boarded, three of them accompanied the captain to a safe where he took out about $30,000 in cash, which the pirates then took, Sorrells said.

Sorrells said the pirates held Phillips on a life boat for four days, with Muse telling the captain at one point that he had hijacked other ships before.

After Phillips tried to escape by jumping in the water, the pirates fired a gun at him and later tied him up and hit him, Sorrells said.
***
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.

And, even in jail, he may better off than on the streets of Somalia or in a small boat chasing ships...

From the United States Code:

Title 18, Chapter 81, § 1651. Piracy under law of nations

Whoever, on the high seas, commits the crime of piracy as defined by the law of nations, and is afterwards brought into or found in the United States, shall be imprisoned for life.

and/or


TITLE 18, CHAPTER 111 - SHIPPING
Sec. 2280. Violence against maritime navigation

STATUTE

(a) Offenses. -

(1) In general. - A person who unlawfully and intentionally -

(A) seizes or exercises control over a ship by force or threat thereof or any other form of intimidation;

(B) performs an act of violence against a person on board a ship if that act is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship;

(C) destroys a ship or causes damage to a ship or to its cargo which is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship;

(D) places or causes to be placed on a ship, by any means whatsoever, a device or substance which is likely to destroy that ship, or cause damage to that ship or its cargo which endangers or is likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship;

(E) destroys or seriously damages maritime navigational facilities or seriously interferes with their operation, if such act is likely to endanger the safe navigation of a ship;

(F) communicates information, knowing the information to be false and under circumstances in which such information may reasonably be believed, thereby endangering the safe navigation of a ship;

(G) injures or kills any person in connection with the commission or the attempted commission of any of the offenses set forth in subparagraphs (A) through (F); or

(H) attempts or conspires to do any act prohibited under subparagraphs (A) through (G), shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and if the death of any person results from conduct prohibited by this paragraph, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.

Somali Pirate in U.S. Court

The U.S. captured Somali pirate will be going to court in New York. According to the Voice of America, the pirate, previously reported as being 16 is 19 (never trust first reports and doubt second reports) as set out here:

The last surviving Somali pirate captured during a botched seizure of a United States ship captain is expected to appear in a Manhattan Federal Court today (Tuesday). The 19 year-old pirate, Abduhl Wal-i-Musi is reportedly charged with hostage taking and piracy. Abdullahi Ali is a political analyst. He told VOA that Tuesday's trial would serve as a deterrent to other pirates who have been harassing ships off the Somali coasts.
***
The pirate was reported to have gone aboard a U.S navy vessel before Navy Seal snipers shot and killed three of colleagues who had been holding Captain Richard Philips hostage for at least five days in a life boat. Meanwhile, during the recent hostage standoff off the Somali coast, FBI agents from New York were assigned to investigate the pirate attack on the U. S cargo ship Maersk Alabama and the abduction of its captain, and continued to develop a case for trial.

The pirates had demanded two million dollars before releasing Captain Richard Philips who they had been holding hostage hours after the captain attempted a daring escape from his captors.

According to some research, this may be the first piracy trial in the U.S. since 1861. That trial was also held in New York City.

UPDATE: Young pirate arrives in U.S..