Seven Somali nationals were charged in the magistrate’s court in Kuala Lumpur with discharging firearms in committing armed robbery against Malaysian armed forces personnel in the Gulf of Aden on Jan 20 this year, and face the death sentence upon conviction.

Ahmad Othman Jamal, Abdil Eid Hasan, Koore Mohamad Abdile, Abdi Hakim Mohd Abdi and three underaged males were charged under the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 with committing the offence with the intent to cause death or hurt on the MT Bunga Laurel vessel about 250 nautical miles from Omani waters between 8.10 am and 10 pm on that day.

No plea was recorded from all of them, wearing the orange lock-up attire, after the charge was read out by an interpreter before magistrate Siti Shakirah Mohtarudin, who set March 15 for mention of the case.  

somali pirate 300908 The charge was read out by Yaser Mohamad Ahmad, a Somali student of Universiti Utara Malaysia, who was appointed by the prosecution. 

It was made under Section 3 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death sentence upon conviction. 

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Abazafree Mohd Abbas submitted a document under Section 127A(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code to enable all the accused to be prosecuted in Malaysia. 

He said the offence had an effect on Malaysia’s security and the section allowed the accused to be tried in Malaysia because the offence was committed against Malaysians.

Siti Shakirah set March 15 for mention of the case to obtain a qualified interpreter and a date for transfer of the case to the High Court.

All the accused, escorted by several policemen, were sent to the Sungai Buloh prison near Kuala Lumpur.

Attacks hit seven-year high last year

The decision to prosecute came as pirate attacks hit a seven-year high in 2010, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau which collates statistics on attacks, disrupting shipping lanes at a time when the price of raw materials has moved sharply higher.

Pirates operating off the coast of Somalia have hijacked vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden for years, making millions of dollars in ransoms by seizing ships, including oil tankers, despite the presence of dozens of foreign naval vessels.

There were 445 actual and attempted pirate attacks on ships around the world in 2010, equal to the last peak recorded in 2003, the International Maritime Bureau said.

South Korea recently arrested five pirates over the hijacking of a chemicals ship in the Arabian Sea but has yet to charge them.

Naval forces in the Gulf of Aden have been beefed up to counter the pirate threat and some countries have responded more aggressively than others.

Russian forces in 2010 stormed a hijacked oil tanker and the bodies of ten pirates who had been captured were later found adrift in a boat.

But it has proved difficult to find jurisdictions in which to charge pirates as conflict-torn Somalia lacks the legal infrastructure to do so.

While Kenya and the Seychelles have prosecuted dozens of suspects handed over by foreign navies they have both said they would have difficulties coping if all the seized pirates were

sent to them.

United Nations officials have suggested setting up specialised courts in Somaliland and Puntland in northern Somalia, and at Arusha in Tanzania to try pirates using Somali law.

- Agencies