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| Africa Horn |
| I was lost and found, suspected pirate tells court |
| 2010-08-11 |
| [The Nation (Nairobi)] A Somali accused of piracy on Tuesday told the court that he was grateful to the Spanish navy for rescuing him when his boat capsized at sea. But Mr Jama Abdikadir said he was, however, surprised when these "good people" handed him over to the Kenyan authorities for prosecution. Mr Abdikadir told the court that he was a human trafficker not a pirate. Awww, well, why didn't ya say so? When asked by state counsel Mr Jacob Ondari if he knew trafficking was an international crime, he said he was not aware. I...did not know that. "I am not a criminal nor a pirate," said Mr Abdikadir, who with Awil Mohamed, Abdiweli Bare, Shariff Osman, Abdirahman Ahmed, Mohamed Hersi and Noor Hussein are alleged to have attacked the MV Nepheli on May 6 last year. Next time, let the sharks "rescue" him. Senior resident magistrate Mr James Omburah adjourned the case to September 21. In another court, the defence hearing for seven suspected pirates had to be adjourned as their lawyer was not feeling well. Mombasa chief magistrate Ms Rosemelle Mutoka heard that lawyer Mr Donald Muyundo had fallen sick and could not attend the hearing of the case. Ms Mutoka fixed the case for hearing on September 1 and 2. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Once the Somalis go into the Kenyan prison system the door slams shut on them and god knows what happens to them in there. the international community has spent millions upon millions sending warships to guard the Gulf of Aden, and trucking captured alleged pirates to Mombassa for trial. In the courts the EU have paid for water coolers and donated money as the pirate trials are clogging up the justice system with about 100 suspects standing trial at one point last year. Some fear magistrates will feel pressure to convict out of a sense of obligation to the EU Naval Force who are the prosecutors as a result of the donations. It is a complete farce. If even half the money spent on sending warships to the region were diverted instead to the Government of Puntland under Dr Farole, the piracy issue would vanish. He has a functioning justice system and has locked up hundreds of pirates from his territory - but he lacks funds. His entire state budget was $15 million last year. All the UN Aid money goes to the largely useless Somali federal government known as the Transitional Federal Government, whose 500+ members sit in Nairobi sipping lattes and organising their passports to places like Australia where they will claim asylum status for themselves and their families. Dr Farole seems to have done an amazing job with the very scant resources he has. Why not divert a bit of that wasted aid money from the TFG direct to Puntland and see what happens. It will save millions of dollars, and hundreds of Somalis from clogging up the Kenyan justice system. Where, incidentally, once they hit the candy-coloured jails in Kenya, they are beaten up, often sick, are far from home. Some of them may not be guilty and some may be underage. Sometimes dentists are called to try to work out whether they are children or not. And Kenyan prison guards .... corrupt. Rumours abound that they run crime rings using prisoners to steal then locking them back up in jail. If they are caught they are then said to have been 'dangerous escapees'. |
| Posted by: anon1 2010-08-11 19:52 |