Tag: court

Pirates on trial Pirates accused of kidnapping a British couple off Somalia could be hauled to the UK to stand trial.Paul and Rachel Chandler were seized from their yacht and held in Africa for a year before being freed after a ransom of up to 620,000 was reportedly paid.Now Government lawyers here are working with Interpol to arrest and extradite the Somali gang, who are in custody in neighbouring Kenya.It would be highly unusual for suspects to be extradited back to the UK for a crime committed overseas.But both the Home and Foreign Office are keen to take a firm stance on pirates running amok off east Africa.A source close to Paul, 61, and Rachel, 57, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, said: "The family have been told that officials are keen the kidnappers do not go unpunished."Paul and Rachel have doubts about whether the gang would ever be brought to justice if a trial went ahead in Africa."The men accused of being the armed bandits who boarded the Chandlers' boat near the Seychelles in 2009 are being tried in Kenya for an attack on a French ship.Paul has told MPs: "I'd like to see them prosecuted by the UK authorities."A Parliamentary ...

Italian sailors charged with the murder of two Indian fishermen An Indian court granted bail on Wednesday to two Italian sailors charged with the murder of two Indian fishermen in a case that has caused a major diplomatic rift between Rome and New Delhi.The two marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, were ordered not to leave the port city of Kochi, in the western state of Kerala, while awaiting trial. They will be freed once they each pay bail of 10 million rupees, about $200,000. No date has been set for trial but it is expected to start soon.The sailors were part of a military security team protecting the cargo ship Enrica Lexie from pirate attacks when they opened fire on the fishermen's boat off the coast of Kerala on Feb. 15. Italian officials say the men mistook the fishermen for pirates.The picture of what happened that day is still murky, but investigators say what is clear is that the two fishermen were unarmed and posed no threat to the ship. Italian officials said the fishermen ignored warning shots.The incident has soured relations between Italy and India, with Rome insisting that Latorre and Girone are military personnel and should be ...

They are charged with taking a French luxury yacht in 2008

For SV Quest hijacking A 2013 trial date has been set for three Somali men charged with murdering four Americans aboard a yacht off the coast of Africa.Ahmed Muse Salad, Abukar Osman Beyle and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar could face the death penalty if they're convicted.The Quest's owners, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., and friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were shot to death in 2011 after being taken hostage several hundred miles south of Oman. They were the first U.S. citizens killed in a wave of pirate attacks.Prosecutors said during a scheduling hearing in federal court in Virginia on Tuesday that the trial is expected to last five or six weeks. Jury selection begins June 3, 2013.Source: AP

They are charged with taking the 30 crew of luxury sailing ship Le Ponant hostage Six Somalis go on trial in a Paris court on Tuesday charged with taking the 30 crew of luxury sailing ship Le Ponant hostage in the emerald, pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden in 2008.The six men, aged 25 to 50, face life in prison if convicted of kidnapping and theft as part of a gang after they were arrested in a French airborne operation on land in Somalia after a ransom was paid.Only one admits to being a pirate, two admit to having been aboard the elegant 88-metre three-master but only to sell goats, cigarettes and the mild narcotic khat. The other three deny ever having set foot on the boat.Le Ponant left the Seychelles on March 30, 2008 with 30 crew and no passengers on board, headed for Yemen where they were to take on passengers for a cruise.On entering the notorious Gulf of Aden on April 4, the ship was boarded by pirates armed with assault rifles who forced the crew to head for Somalia.A week later, the ship's owner, shipping giant CMA-CGM, paid a $2.15-million (1.7-million-euro) ransom, the crew was ...

For hijacing the UAE ship MV Arrilah Ten Somalis who hijacked the UAE ship MV Arrilah were this morning sentenced to life in prison.The Federal Court ruled that following their 25-year sentences, the men should be deported. The court also ordered the confiscation of all the missiles and explosives found by the special forces troops who retook the ship in a daring raid that led to the capture of the men.Counter-terrorism units stormed the bulk oil carrier in April last year after it was hijacked in the Arabian Sea, east of Oman, en route from Australia to Jebel Ali.The 37,000-tonne ship is owned by two subsidiaries of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and the rescue was said at the time to show the UAE's commitment to act firmly against piracy.In a previous hearing the pirates' lawyer Ahmed Al Othali argued that they were forced to carry out the attack.The verdict is subject to appeal.Source: The National

Captain discharged hundreds of plastic pipes into the ocean The former captain of a Panama-flagged cargo ship that discharged hundreds of plastic pipes into the ocean, was convicted yesterday by a jury in Mobile, Ala., for obstructing a U.S. Coast Guard inspection of the vessel in the port of Mobile on Sept. 21, 2011. Prastana Taohim, 38, the captain of the M/V Gaurav Prem, was found guilty of two counts of obstruction of justice, announced Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division and Kenyen R. Brown, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.At trial, witnesses testified that Captain Taohim ordered the ship's chief officer to throw hundreds of plastic pipes into the ocean and not record the discharge in the ship's garbage record book as required. The garbage record book is a required log regularly inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard. Taohim then knowingly made the garbage record book available during a Coast Guard inspection of the vessel in the Port of Mobile, Ala., on Sept. 21, 2011. The plastic pipes had previously contained insecticide and were used to fumigate a grain shipment. The discharge of plastic into the sea is ...

Court said it will also confiscate arms and other weapons used in the hijacking operation Ten Somali pirates responsible for hijacking the MV Arrilah will serve life in jail, the Abu Dhabi Federal Criminal Court of First Instance ruled.In Tuesday's sentencing, the court said it will also confiscate arms and other weapons used in the hijacking operation.The ship, returning from Australia to Dubai, was hijacked by the pirates on April 1, 2011, in the Arabian sea.A special operations unit, in coordination with US fleets, managed to recapture the ship the following day.Source: Gulf News

Pirates prosecution and trial starting in June Mauritius said on Friday it has agreed to prosecute Somali pirates, helping overcome one of the hurdles to cracking down on the wave of piracy that has hit international shipping.The island nation said it had reached agreement with Somalia, and the semi-autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland, to accept suspected pirates for prosecution and trial starting in June.Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam said his Indian Ocean country needed to play a more active role in fighting piracy, given its impact on security, fishing and tourism.International navies trying to counter piracy off Somalia are often reluctant to take suspects to their own countries because they either lack the jurisdiction to put them on trial, or fear the pirates may seek asylum.Suspected pirates captured by navies escorting vessels through dangerous waters often are released after only brief detention due to governments' reluctance to bring them to trial.Mauritius is one of several countries in east Africa and the Indian Ocean region conducting trials, or intending to try pirates, because Somalia lacks the legal infrastructure.The island state said it was making arrangements to accept one or two batches of suspected pirates in June, but did not say how ...

Francesco Schettino has shown little resilience in performing command functions , court says Italy's top appeals court ruled on Wednesday that Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia, was unfit to command the cruise liner which ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January, causing at least 30 deaths.In a written explanation of its decision to maintain a house arrest order against Schettino, the Court of Cassation said he had shown "little resilience in performing command functions or in handling responsibility for the safety of persons under his care."Schettino has been accused of wrecking the 114,500 metric tons (126,215 tons) liner by bringing it too close to shore, where a rocky ledge tore a gash in its side and made it keel over and sink.Investigators also accuse Schettino of delaying evacuation and losing control of the operation, during which he abandoned ship before all 4,200 passengers and crew had been taken off the vessel.He has been charged with multiple manslaughter, causing the accident and abandoning ship prematurely. A pre-trial hearing was held in Grosseto, near Florence, in March.The Court of Cassation said Schettino had shown himself unable to manage a crisis and to ensure the ...