Nine Somali pirates were yesterday sentenced to five years by a Mombasa court for hijacking a civilian ship from Spain in 2010. The court upheld that the prosecution through its witnesses that included several United States marine soldiers. The nine were represented by lawyer Jared Magolo.
Magolo appealed to the court to be lenient with his client. "The accused are first offenders. They have made a resolution to be law abiding citizens in Somalia. There is no need for sentencing as they have been rehabilitated," said Magolo.
The accused complained they had TB and asked the court to release them on account poor health. "The accused have been in prison for three years in a foreign country. Three them have asthma," said the defense.
In his submission Magolo said his clients were innocent fishermen captured by US naval forces. Senior principle magistrate Richard Odenyo who jailed the five said that the ship captain who testified via video link in Warsaw corroborated other evidence that the accused were armed.
The judge directed they be deported upon serving their sentence. The nine are accused of attacking the Magella Star on September 9 in 2010 along the gulf of Eden.
Source: The Star
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