A Somali teen sailed into Manhattan federal court yesterday — where a judge wiped a grin off his face and left him in tears, realizing he faces life in the brig.
PEYSER:’BUC’ UP, BAWLING BRIGAND
Lawyers for scrawny, 5-foot-2 Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse — who had mugged for photographers Monday as he was marched into federal prison — had argued that he is just 15 years old.
But Manhattan federal Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck agreed with prosecutors, who said he is at least 18 and old enough to face a rare piracy charge.
Peck made his ruling after hearing testimony from Muse’s father, a goat-herder, who told him over a speakerphone from Somalia that his son was born on Nov. 20, 1993.
But Peck discounted that testimony because the father was vague when asked about the birth dates of his other sons and had claimed that one of them was born before Muse — who is said to be the oldest of 12.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Muse told interrogators that he was 16, 19 and 26, before finally admitting he was 18. “We do not believe he is 18,” said Muse’s lawyer, Deirdre von Dornum, after the hearing.
Muse wept during the proceeding and his lawyer rubbed his back to comfort him.
Read: U.S. Attorney’s Office Releases Statement (PDF)
Read: List Of Violations (PDF)
The puny pirate said, “I understand. I don’t have any money,” when Peck asked if he understood the charges against him. “He’s scared, he’s in pain, he’s confused, he’s never been part of a criminal-justice system before,” said Muse’s other court-appointed lawyer, Philip Weinstein.
Muse is the first person in more than a century charged in a US court with piracy — a crime that carries a mandatory life sentence. He also is accused of conspiring to forcibly seize the Maersk Alabama and hostages, and faces weapons charges.
“An act of piracy against one nation is a crime against all nations. Pirates target ships and cargo, but threaten international commerce and human life,” said acting US Attorney Lev Dassin, adding that “modern-day pirates bear little resemblance to the swashbuckling anti-heroes of popular fiction.”
Muse’s mother told The Associated Press that her son, who had lived in a dirt-poor village, disappeared recently after heading to school one day. “He was brainwashed,” said Adar Abdirahman Hassan. “People who were older than him outwitted him; people who were older than him duped him.”
Muse is accused of acting as the boss of a heavily armed four-pirate crew that attacked and boarded the Maersk Alabama two weeks ago off the coast of Somalia.
The pirates were unable to seize control of the American-flagged merchant ship after its crew hid, cut engine power and eventually took Muse captive and stabbed his hand with an ice pick.
The pirates left the ship on a lifeboat with Capt. Richard Phillips — who volunteered to go with them to protect his crew. Muse later returned to the Alabama to get his hand treated.
The three other pirates were shot dead by Navy SEALs days later while Muse was aboard the USS Bainbridge, where he had gone for medical treatment and to negotiate a ransom for Phillips.