Meagan Flood
4/24/09
11:15am
18 Somali men appeared in a Mombasa courthouse on Thursday facing piracy charges that could put them behind bars for life. This was the first court appearance for the men tracked down by French commandos on April 14th. The French also gave over their captured equipment. The pirates showed to court wearing shabby clothing and some even without shoes. There was also a hearing in a U.S. court this week charging a Somali teenager with attacking an American cargo ship. This was the first piracy case brought to court in over a century in the US. Due to the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Sea, any country can try a piracy case irrespective of the pirates’ nationalities of the vessel they hijacked. The Idea of an international piracy tribunal is continuing to gain traction. Kenya is currently striking deals with the European Union and the U.S. that would allow Kenya to try more suspected pirates captured.
Cooperation between the states continues to grow but there are doubts that Kenya can handle the costly and complicated task of trying cases that emerge from exploding piracy crisis, due to its own huge backlog of criminal and civil cases. I’m not sure that Kenya would be the best place to try these pirates but I think it’s a step in the right direction how these countries are working together to put a stop to piracy.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30371808/page/2/
1 comment:
I think nothing should be held back in the punishment of these pirates. We do not need to jail them and give them an even better life a the cost of other people. I think we need to set an example and show that piracy is not an option and if caught in the act the punishment will be great.
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