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LOGBOEK - JOURNAL DE BORD |
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Pirate pleads guilty Abduwali Abdukha- dir Muse, the Somali pirate who led the hijacking of the containership Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean, pleaded guilty on May 18 in Manhattan federal court to two felony counts of hijacking maritime vessels, two felony counts of kidnapping, and two felony counts of hostage taking. Muse faces sentencing by U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Preska on Oct. 19. He faces a minimum of 27 years in prison. Muse plead guilty to his participation in the April 8, 2009, hijacking of the Maersk Alabama, subsequent hostage-taking of Captain Richard Phillips, and two other ship hijackings in Tate March and early April and related hostage-taking, according to Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Bharara said that Muse "admitted his leadership role in the armed hijacking of an American-flagged vessel and two international ships in the Indian Ocean. The five-day Maersk hijacking and the events leading up to it make clear that modernday piracy is a crime against the international community and a form of terrorism on the high seas. Pirates who attack U.S. ships overseas and take American hostages should know that they will face stiff justice in an American courtroom." Armed with guns, Muse and three other pirates boarded and hijacked the Maersk Alabama on April 8, 2009, while it was en route to Mombasa, Kenya, with cargo, including relief supplies for Somalia. Overpowering and capturing Muse, the crew of the Maersk Alabama was able to retake control of the ship. With their own skiff sunk in the attack, the three remaining pirates took a life boat from the ship and held Phillips as a hostage in hopes of exchanging him for Muse.
Muse was freed by the crew, but Phillips remained a hostage and was held by the pirates on the life boat from April 8 to April 12. During this period, in radio communications between the pirates and the U.S. Navy, the pirates threatened to kill the captain if they were not provided with safe passage away from the scene. On April 12, Muse requested and was permitted tu board the Navy missile destroyer USS Bainbridge, which had responded to the incident. On the USS Bainbridge, Muse continue to demand safe passage for himself and the other pirates in exchange for the captain's release. Clearing for Captin Phillips' life, Navy SEALS on board the Bainbridge spot the three pirates on the lifeboat. Muse surrendered and was taken into custodv by the U.S.Navy. Late last month, a trial of five alleged Somali pirates was scheduled to begin in the Netherlands . The men were arrested in January 2, 2009 by Danish marines after their skiff was intercepted by a Danish frigate as they were preparing to board the Netherlands Antilles-flagged cargo ship Samanyolu. If convicted, the men could receive prison terms between 9 and 12 years. Meanwhile, Saba, Yemen's official news agency reported earlier last month chat six Somali pirates were sentenced to death and six others to 10 years of prison, stemming from the hijacking of a Yemeni oil tanker Qana in April 2009 in the Gulf of Aden.
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