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08-17-2010, 09:55 PM
Piracy charges dropped against Ashland suspects
By Steve Szkotak - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 17, 2010 21:02:48 EDT
RICHMOND, Va. — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed piracy charges against six Somali nationals accused of attacking a Navy ship off the coast of Africa, concluding the U.S. government failed to make the case their alleged actions amounted to piracy.
The dismissal of the piracy count by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson tosses the most serious charge against the men, but leaves intact seven other charges related to the alleged April 10 attack on the dock landing ship Ashland in the Gulf of Aden. A piracy conviction carries a mandatory life term.
Defense attorneys argued last month that the Ashland defendants did not meet the U.S. legal definition of piracy because they did not take command of and rob the ship.
Jackson agreed in his ruling, finding that the government “failed to establish that any unauthorized acts of violence or aggression committed on the high seas constitutes piracy as defined by the law of nations.”
Jackson, who issued the ruling from Norfolk, wrote that the government was attempting to use “an enormously broad standard under a novel construction of the statute” that would contradict a nearly 200-year-old Supreme Court decision.
The six are accused of attacking the Ashland in a skiff, although they claim they were ferrying refugees. The skiff was destroyed by one of the ship’s 25mm cannons.
Attorneys for five other Somali defendants accused in a similar attack on the frigate Nicholas, also in April, are also seeking dismissal of the piracy count, citing similar arguments. They are being tried before a different judge.
The government did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.
By Steve Szkotak - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 17, 2010 21:02:48 EDT
RICHMOND, Va. — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed piracy charges against six Somali nationals accused of attacking a Navy ship off the coast of Africa, concluding the U.S. government failed to make the case their alleged actions amounted to piracy.
The dismissal of the piracy count by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson tosses the most serious charge against the men, but leaves intact seven other charges related to the alleged April 10 attack on the dock landing ship Ashland in the Gulf of Aden. A piracy conviction carries a mandatory life term.
Defense attorneys argued last month that the Ashland defendants did not meet the U.S. legal definition of piracy because they did not take command of and rob the ship.
Jackson agreed in his ruling, finding that the government “failed to establish that any unauthorized acts of violence or aggression committed on the high seas constitutes piracy as defined by the law of nations.”
Jackson, who issued the ruling from Norfolk, wrote that the government was attempting to use “an enormously broad standard under a novel construction of the statute” that would contradict a nearly 200-year-old Supreme Court decision.
The six are accused of attacking the Ashland in a skiff, although they claim they were ferrying refugees. The skiff was destroyed by one of the ship’s 25mm cannons.
Attorneys for five other Somali defendants accused in a similar attack on the frigate Nicholas, also in April, are also seeking dismissal of the piracy count, citing similar arguments. They are being tried before a different judge.
The government did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment.