Somali pirates head to US to stand trial
Source: Agencies |
April 24, 2010, Saturday
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ELEVEN suspected pirates were flown to the United States on Thursday to stand trial for alleged attacks on US naval vessels off the coast of Africa.
The suspects were taken to court in Norfolk, Virginia, for indictment, two US officials said on condition of anonymity.
The 11 have been held on US ships for weeks off Somalia's pirate-infested coast as officials worked to determine whether and where they could be prosecuted and prepare legal charges against them.
The suspects were taken from the USS Nassau on Thursday, handed over to US law enforcement officials and were flown to Virginia on a government plane in the custody of the Justice Department, one official said.
The transfer of the case to a US court comes amid discussions about setting up a special international court to try piracy suspects, because a number of countries will not act against suspected pirates who are turned over to them. Some pirates have been released after capture because no nation could be found to try them.
Off the coast of the violence-racked nation, ships are hijacked and millions of dollars in ransom are demanded and won by young men traveling in skiffs, armed with AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades and sometimes high on the narcotic plant called qat popular with Somalis.
Five of those taken to Virginia were captured on March 31, after the frigate USS Nicholas exchanged fire with a suspected pirate vessel west of the Seychelles Islands, sinking a skiff and confiscating its mother ship.
The other six suspects were captured after they allegedly began shooting at the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland on April 10 about 600 kilometers off Djibouti, a small nation at the mouth of the Red Sea.
The suspects were taken to court in Norfolk, Virginia, for indictment, two US officials said on condition of anonymity.
The 11 have been held on US ships for weeks off Somalia's pirate-infested coast as officials worked to determine whether and where they could be prosecuted and prepare legal charges against them.
The suspects were taken from the USS Nassau on Thursday, handed over to US law enforcement officials and were flown to Virginia on a government plane in the custody of the Justice Department, one official said.
The transfer of the case to a US court comes amid discussions about setting up a special international court to try piracy suspects, because a number of countries will not act against suspected pirates who are turned over to them. Some pirates have been released after capture because no nation could be found to try them.
Off the coast of the violence-racked nation, ships are hijacked and millions of dollars in ransom are demanded and won by young men traveling in skiffs, armed with AK-47s and rocket propelled grenades and sometimes high on the narcotic plant called qat popular with Somalis.
Five of those taken to Virginia were captured on March 31, after the frigate USS Nicholas exchanged fire with a suspected pirate vessel west of the Seychelles Islands, sinking a skiff and confiscating its mother ship.
The other six suspects were captured after they allegedly began shooting at the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland on April 10 about 600 kilometers off Djibouti, a small nation at the mouth of the Red Sea.
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