Tag: prison

Suspected pirates demand new mattresses in jail

Somali pirates found guilty of hijacking French vessel Somali pirates who were found guilty of hijacking the French vessel Le Ponant in 2008 have been sentenced to a total of 24 years imprisonment by a Paris court.Of the six Somali pirates, who were captured by French forces in a daring raid on land, with a 4x4 vehicle, arms and a part of the ransom, two were acquitted. One was sentenced to serve four years but this was negated by his detention on remand since April, 2008. All three had protested their innocence.Two others were sentenced to seven years imprisonment and the remaining pirate, who admitted participating in the whole operation, was told he must serve ten years. It is, as yet, unclear whether the jail terms will be served in France or using the facilities of cooperating jurisdictions in the East African Region.Commenting on the judgements, Alastair Evitt, Chairman of the shipping industry anti-piracy group SOS SaveOurSeafarers says; "This is encouraging news. There are about 3,500 criminals active in these pirate gangs. All too often, when they are captured by security forces, confusion over admissible evidence or legal and international diplomatic complexities mean that they are set free to offend ...

Up to 15 years The prosecutor in the Paris trial of six Somalis charged with holding crew of a luxury sailing ship hostage in the Gulf of Aden in 2008 on Monday called for sentences of up to 15 years."These six men you are going to judge ... seriously endangered French lives," prosecutor Bruno Sturlese told the court."They were ready to sacrifice them to get money," he added.Somali pirates seized 30 crew members of the luxury yacht Le Ponant in the pirate-infested waters in April 2008 and held them for ransom.French special forces arrested the six men, aged 25 to 50, in an airborne operation after a ransom had been paid.Only one of them admits to being a pirate. Two admit to having been aboard the elegant 88-metre (290-foot) three-master but only to sell goats, cigarettes and the mild narcotic khat. The other three deny ever having set foot on the boat.Sturlese called for a 15-year sentence against Ismael Ali Samatar, 31, the only one to have admitted his role in the crime. The prosecutor said he had played a greater role in the hostage-taking operation than the others.But he said the others were also implicated, having been arrested aboard ...

Two Somali pirates escaped from jail Two Somali pirates, including one of Somalia's most famous and ineffectual seafaring criminals, have escaped from Berbera Jail after bribing their prison guards, officials and residents in the Somaliland port said.The two escapees - bumbling and publicity-hungry Farah Ismail Idle and Abdirashid Ismail Haji - and another six individuals were the first Somali pirates sentence to prison terms by Somaliland in 2008. "Two pirates escaped from Berbera jail, and we are investigating how they escaped: I don't want to talk deeply this case, we heard they escaped after paying a bribe, and we will investigate," a police officer in Berbera told Somalia Report.Idle is still in Berbera, while Abdirashid Ismail Haji went to Puntland and joined his old friends in Bari Region, residents said. Pirates used some of the ransom from the MV Dover to release these two pirates from Berbera Jail, according to a member of the pirate group that received $3.8 million for the vessel."As a number of them are relatives of these two escaped pirates, they were planning how to get their relatives released," Muhammad Ahmad told Somalia Report. "I heard last night that Farah and Abdirashid got out, it is ...