For the first time in almost 200 years, pirates have been sentenced ion a American court to jail time. It was 1816 in Virginia that last saw a pirate trial, and I say it's about time. The five Somali pirates were all sent to the Greybar Hotel for life with no chance of parole. This is but one instance of America trying to stop the piracy which has recently been responsibile for the deaths of four Americans on their private yacht as they sailed around the world passing our Bibles.
I doubt this will be the last trial of Somali pirates, but this is one good sign of some justice being metted out.
From TampaBayOnline March 14
I doubt this will be the last trial of Somali pirates, but this is one good sign of some justice being metted out.
From TampaBayOnline March 14
Somali pirates sentenced in Va. to life in prison
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- Five Somali men convicted of attacking a Navy ship were sentenced to life in prison on Monday, the harshest sentences yet for accused pirates as the U.S. tries to halt piracy off Africa's coast.
The federal prosecution in Virginia relied upon rarely-used 19th century maritime laws and was the first piracy case to go to trial since the Civil War, when a New York jury deadlocked on charges against 13 Southern privateers. Last month, a Somali pirate who kidnapped and brutalized the captain of a U.S.-flagged merchant ship off the coast of Africa in 2009 was sentenced to more than 33 years in prison.
Before the Somalis were convicted late last year, the last U.S. conviction for piracy was in 1819 in Virginia and involved a Spanish vessel. U.S. piracy law was based on that case.
The five men also were sentenced to an additional 80 years in prison on other charges related to the attack on the USS Nicholas.
Several of the pirates told U.S. District Judge Mark Davis through an interpreter that they wanted to appeal their convictions and sentences while they maintained their innocence.
"I'm being judged on the basis of something I did not commit," said Gabul Abdullah Ali.
(.)One of them, Abdi Mohammed Umar, said he didn't understand why he was being sentenced to prison.
"I did not kill anybody. I did not rob anybody. I didn't attack anybody," he said through an interpreter. "I'd like to be told the reason I am found guilty in this case."
Davis reminded Umar that a jury had heard the evidence and found him guilty of multiple charges.
No one ever accused the Somali pirates of being Rhodes scholars.
Read it all
2 comments:
'Islamic militants wound 7 police officers' in Russia. 'The deaths of four Americans on their private yacht as they sailed around the world passing our Bible'. The last week has had some bad news. Thanks for cheering us up.
Oh Jay you are showing your hateful, TRUE colors once again! John Donne said, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: ANY MANS DEATH DIMINISHES ME, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee". Jay when I oppose Islam, I oppose it because of the violence, the cruelty, the loss of freedom and the horrors it imposes on ALL people, MUSLIM as well as non- Muslim. When a child is killed in Palestine, I weep, no matter if the child is Muslim or Jew. When lives are lost in Iraq or Afghanistan, I weep for ALL of the lives lost and wonder why it must be that men can not live in peace with one another, respecting one another, caring for one another. ANY murder diminishes mankind, no matter the race, creed, or religion of the murdered. However while I abhor violence, I will defend to the death my right to live as a free man (woman in my case) and I have the right to defend myself from those who would harm me or take away my freedoms. Jay you ONLY see RELIGION, Jew=bad, MUSLIM=good. You see as most Muslims also see, ONLY religion, NEVER looking at the human being behind the belief. For that reason and for that reason alone, I will argue, and fight if need be against Islam. Islam can NOT live peacefully with others. For over 1400 years Islam has made war on unbelievers. Become Muslim or die has been the belief and the practice of Islam. There are at least 109 verses in the Quran that urge Muslims to kill non-believers. I refuse any religion that requires me to kill, maim or subjugate fellow human human beings; but I WILL defend myself, I WILL defend those I love, I WILL defend human rights and I WILL fight tyranny no matter what forms it takes. That tyranny is Islam.
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