Legal loophole could see half of all Somali piracy suspects walk free
Nine suspected pirates arrested by international navies off Somalia have walked free and over 50 more could be released because of a legal loophole in Kenyan law. Description: Nine suspected pirates arrested by international navies off Somalia have walked free and over 50 more could be released because of a legal loophole in Kenyan law. Suspected Somali pirates leave court after a judge ordered the men to be freed because the alleged attack took place in the Gulf of Aden outside Kenyan jurisdiction Photo: AP By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi 9:00PM GMT 10 Nov 2010 Daily Telegraph In a landmark judgment on Tuesday, Mohamed Ibrahim, one of Kenya's most senior judges, conceded that magistrate's courts had no power to try Somali pirates <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/piracy/> arrested in international waters He immediately ordered the release of nine suspected pirates who had been captured by the German navy, with help from US helicopters, in the Gulf of Aden in March 2009. Most pirate prosecutions are taking place in Mombasa because there is no functioning system to conduct trials in Somalia. But that process, part funded by Britain, could now be thrown off track after defence lawyers challenged Kenya's jurisdiction in the High Court over cases where the alleged crimes took place outside the country's territorial waters. "The local courts can only deal with offences for criminal incidences that take place within the territorial jurisdiction of Kenya," Mr Justice Ibrahim said in his High Court ruling. "The high seas are not, and cannot be, a place within Kenya or within the territorial waters of Kenya." Jared Magolo, defence lawyer for the nine men, said that the judgment would mean that dozens of his other clients, on remand suspected of piracy, should also walk free. Legal experts agreed that as many as 60 of the 136 suspected pirates arrested and taken to Kenya for trial could benefit from the loophole. "It is a significant setback to efforts to prosecute pirates arrested off Somalia," said Alan Cole, antipiracy coordinator for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Nairobi. The section of law which forced the change has since been overhauled, and recently arrested suspects charged under new legislation passed 12 months ago will not be affected. But more than half of the 69 men currently being held by Kenya awaiting trial were charged under the old penal code, and would likely now appeal for their cases to be thrown out. The loophole could also apply retroactively, Mr Cole said. Those charged with piracy under the old penal code and convicted in the last three months could appeal their conviction in light of the legal confusion. That could be as many as 21 of the 50 pirates convicted since Kenya began trials in 2008. Under its new constitution, Kenya has the responsibility to repatriate the freed men back to Somalia, or to hand them over to the United Nations' refugee agency. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, discuss-os...@yahoogroups.com. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor biso...@intellnet.org http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: osint-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: osint-dig...@yahoogroups.com osint-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: osint-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
