A federal judge in Virginia threw out piracy charges on Tuesday against six Somali men captured after an attack on a US Navy ship off the coast of East Africa, saying that the government had not shown that the men’s actions violated US piracy law.
The incident occurred on April 10 in the Gulf of Aden, when a skiff approached the Ashland and, according to the government’s case, someone on the skiff fired a shot at the ship. The Ashland responded with fire that destroyed the skiff and killed one of the passengers.
The remaining men on board were captured and indicted on eight counts that included piracy, which an 1819 law said was “defined by the law of nations” and carries a life sentence.
Lawyers for the defendants asked Judge Raymond Jackson of US District Court to dismiss the piracy charge, saying it did not apply to the incident because under the most recent Supreme Court decision dealing with the statute, United States v. Smith in 1820, piracy was defined as “robbery at sea.” Attempted robbery, they argued, did not fit the description.
Jackson wrote that “the definition of piracy in the international community is unclear” and that “the court’s reliance on these international sources as authoritative would not meet constitutional muster and must therefore be rejected.”
Jackson concluded that the government “failed to establish that any unauthorized acts of violence or aggression committed on the high seas constitutes piracy” as defined under federal law.
Robert Rigney, a lawyer for one of the Somalis, Mohammed Abdi Jamah, applauded the judge’s decision, saying, “How do you prosecute people when nobody knows what the criminal law is?”
Seven other charges, including assault and “attack to plunder a vessel,” remain against the men, but piracy carried the toughest sentence.
Geremy Kamens, assistant federal public defender for the Eastern District of Virginia, said, “We’re very pleased with Judge Jackson’s opinion, and we look forward to presenting our defense at trial on the remaining counts.”
Eugene Kontorovich, an expert in international law and piracy at Northwestern University law school, said Jackson’s decision was “part of a much bigger debate over what is the status and what is the force of international law as part of United States law.”
However, in this case, he explained, the US does have clear criminal standards, and “I think the judge has got it completely wrong.”
Dana Boente, first assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said, “We’re going to move forward with the prosecution of this case, review the decision and determine what options we have.”
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
RSS