US jury convicts five Somalis of piracy (Attack on US frigate, after mistaking it for a cargo ship)

[Turborama]

Source: AP

Five Somali men accused of attacking a US Navy vessel, the USS Nicholas, off Somalia were convicted on federal piracy charges yesterday in the first trial of its kind in more than a century.

The jury's verdict came in a US District Court in Norfolk, Virginia. The five men stood silently as the verdict was read. They face mandatory life terms at a sentencing hearing set for 14 March.

Prosecutors said the five had confessed to the attack that occurred on 1 April; they mistook the ship for a merchant vessel.

Defence lawyers argued the men were innocent fishermen who were abducted by pirates and forced to fire at the ship. They also questioned the validity of the confessions that were obtained by a Navy interpreter and were not videotaped. John S Davis, prosecuting assistant US attorney, said the men were in a skiff that opened fire with assault rifles, then fled when sailors returned fire with machine guns.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-jury-convicts-five-somalis-of-piracy-2142974.html

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Somali Pirates Convicted Over Attack On US Frigate

(RTTNews) - A Federal Court in the US state of Virginia on Wednesday convicted five Somali Pirates for the attack on a US Navy ship in April, it has emerged.

The men, all in their twenties, targeted USS Nicholas mistaking it for a cargo ship. All the five now face the prospect of life in prison.

"Modern-day pirates not only threaten human lives but also disrupt international commerce by extorting hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments.Todays conviction demonstrates that armed attacks on US-flagged vessels are crimes against the international community and that pirates will face severe consequences in US courts," Neil H MacBride, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said.

The conviction-- on charges of sea piracy, attempts to rob a Naval vessel and wielding a dangerous weapon during the attack-- is the first for a sea piracy case in the US in nearly 200 years.

Read more: http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1489827&SM=1

[thereismore]

1. A jury of their peers? Where do you find those in the US? nt

[Turborama]

2. What would you have preferred instead? A military tribunal? Extrajudicial killing by the navy?

Do nothing and just let them get away with firing at a navy ship?

[hayu_lol]

3. They should be taken to Boston Harbor...

and there publicly hung from the USS Constitution's yardarms.

[RSillsbee]

4. I was going to say

Let the Nicholas fire back and resolve the issue right then and there but I like your idea better

[thereismore]

10. Ease up a bit, I was just making a joke. nt

[Turborama]

11. I apologize if I took it the wrong way, it's hard to tell sometimes

And I had just come over from the other pirate thread.

[thereismore]

12. No problem, have a great Thanksgiving! nt

[provis99]

5. the morons can't tell the difference between a warship and cargo ship?

They should get an extra ten years in prison just for absolute stupidity.

[Turborama]

6. I laughed out loud

When I read your response.

[jtuck004]

7. Perhaps in jail they will get glasses so they can tell the difference

between a cargo boom and a guided missle launch platform.

[Scruffy1]

8. When they convict those that have pirated Somalia

then and only then justice will be served. First they steal poor peoples fish and then they use their coast for dumping toxic waste. A poor man will do whatever it takes to keep from starving.

[Nihil]

13. "A poor man will do whatever it takes to keep from starving" ...

... including (apparently) attacking a US warship so that they get
food, drink & free board in a US jail ...
:yoiks:

[truthisfreedom]

9. Life in prison?

I wonder how old that law is?