Pirate Trials

Michelle Commiskey
Apr. 23, 2009
2:10pm

This Thursday eighteen Somali men face piracy charges. The men were captured at see and hauled to shore by various European Navies. All eighteen men wore solemn expressions on their faces. All were shabbily dressed, wearing faded sarongs, old jackets, and cheap sandals. Two had no shoes at all.
This is the pirates’ first court appearance after being captured by French commandos on the 14th. The case has been adjourned until their bail hearing on May 27. Until then, all eighteen men will remain in a Mombasa jail. The Magistrate also ordered to court officials that the men be properly dressed for their bail hearings.

“Experts believe the underlying causes of piracy — unemployment, few options and insecurity on land — drive young men into a life of seafaring crime.”

Piracy can be seen as a direct correlation to the state of the economy. As of recent there have been more and more pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, and I believe that it has a lot to do with the faltering economy. The problems in our economy and the economies of the global north directly affect the economies of the global south.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_re_af/piracy;_ylt=AkPMLfZktjjSJDYxwluDYgJvaA8F