Somali pirate sentenced to 33 years in prison
By DPA, IANSWednesday, February 16, 2011
NEW YORK - Somali detainee Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, portrayed as a modern-day pirate, was sentenced Wednesday to 33 years and nine months in prison for hijacking a US vessel in 2009 off the coast of Somalia.
In US District Court in Lower Manhattan, US prosecutors had sought the maximum sentence of 34 years for Muse’s role in the attack against the Maersk Alabama.
The prosecutors said Muse behaved sadistically against captured crew members and captain of the Maersk Alabama ship, which was transporting relief aid to Somalia’s needy people.
The ship was freed after US Navy sharpshooters intervened on the high seas in April, 2009, 280 miles off Somalia, killing some of the pirates. Muse and five other pirates were captured and taken to Virginia before going on trial in New York.
