Are the Sea Shepherd pirates?
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Posted on 07/05/2010 1:25:07 PM PDT by GATOR NAVY
NORFOLK
Defense attorneys for a group of suspected Somali pirates are challenging the very heart of the government's case, arguing that in the history of the United States there has never been a piracy case that did not involve plundering or stealing a vessel.
For that reason, the attorneys argue, the piracy case should be thrown out of court.
In their most recent court filing, the attorneys argue that the 200-year-old piracy statute has never been updated and is not applicable to modern-day pirate suspects.
Under that law, they say, Greenpeace activists who forcibly prevent a whaling ship from conducting its mission could be considered pirates. The filing is the latest in a string of challenges to one of two piracy cases pending here in federal court.
In a flurry of motions filed over the past several weeks, defense attorneys have provided new details that they say raise more doubts about the intent of one group of six Somali nationals charged in the case.
It was also revealed publicly for the first time that in the April 10 attack on the Ashland - a Little Creek-based amphibious dock landing ship - a seventh man was present and was killed when sailors returned fire, blowing up the small skiff. The Navy never acknowledged a death during the attack.
That man was the only one with a firearm, the defense attorneys say, making the other suspects less culpable. And with him dead, the real reason he opened fire may never be known.
In a move to throw out the most serious charge - piracy, which carries a mandatory life prison term - the lawyers in the Ashland attack case argue that the legal definition of piracy requires that there be a robbery or seizure of a ship.
"Tellingly, the government cites not one example in the history of American jurisprudence of a criminal prosecution for piracy that did not involve the seizure of a ship," Keith Kimball, an assistant federal public defender, wrote to the court on behalf of the six suspected pirate s. (Each defendant has his own lawyer as well.)
"It cites to none because there are none," he said in the filing.
But the government contends that the Piracy Act of 1819, on which the case hinges, historically has included different types of violent acts committed on the high seas. Government prosecutors urged the court not to consider piracy as it existed 200 years ago and to rely on modern-day common law and international treaties.
The Ashland was fired upon just before dawn on April 10 while on patrol in the Gulf of Aden, about 330 nautical miles off Djibouti. The Ashland fired back, causing an explosion that destroyed the skiff.
After jumping into the ocean, the six surviving Somalis, two seriously injured, were taken into custody and brought to Norfolk U.S. District Court to face piracy and other charges. Part of one man's leg was amputated as a result of his injuries.
The case is set for trial Oct. 19.
In one recent court filing, the Somalis provided their first hint of an alibi.
They "repeatedly told investigators that they had helped transport Somali refugees to Yemen and then had been stranded at sea on a small boat without fuel or supplies for several days before firing their single weapon in an act of desperation in order to attract the attention of the USS Ashland," Kimball wrote.
Kimball added that all six provided statements to the FBI and Navy investigators asserting their innocence. They told the agents they were lost at sea for five days.
The government says in one filing that the "description of the defendants' statements" is inaccurate but does not provide more detail.
Five other Somalis are charged in a March 31 attack on the Nicholas, a Norfolk-based frigate that had been patrolling the waters off Somalia. Like the others, the indictment says those five, armed with assault rifles, attacked the Nicholas that night, believing in the darkness that it was a merchant vessel.
That trial is set for Sept. 9, but the attorneys have yet to file any pretrial motions. They have until July 13 to do so.
All 11 defendants remain in jail without bond.
I'm not going to abuse you for thinking that whales shouldn't be hunted. It's not necessarily my belief but you will certainly find you are not alone on FR. The question is do you approve of the dangerous and lawless tactics (such as attempting to disable whaling vessels at sea) of this group? Or should the issue be settled in another fashion?
Greenpeace sailors are pirates.
Greenpeace is a terrorist group
Yep they are, and there are some Greenpeace pirates in Japan currently on trial for that.
And lawyers in this country wonder why they’re as hated as they are.
Now there’s a bunch of pretty boys who will make fine prison wives.
Sounds good to me.
Although I do not approve of whaling and consider it obscene I have even greater disapproval of Green Peace in what they do to the whaling ships that are conducting themselves in totally legal manner.
The way to stop whaling is by applying economic pressure by private individuals and or corporations (NOT BY GOVERNMENT!!!!!) to the companies that conduct whaling or are involved in it in any way. In reference to a Green Peace vessel that deliberately puts itself in harms way of a vessel, I do not give a rats ass if their vessel comes to harm. If life is lost, it is because of Greenpeace not the whalers. If Greenpeace attacks a vessel that is piracy and they should be sunk like pirates.
Sounds good to me.
Although I do not approve of whaling and consider it obscene I have even greater disapproval of Green Peace in what they do to the whaling ships that are conducting themselves in totally legal manner.
The way to stop whaling is by applying economic pressure by private individuals and or corporations (NOT BY GOVERNMENT!!!!!) to the companies that conduct whaling or are involved in it in any way. In reference to a Green Peace vessel that deliberately puts itself in harms way of a vessel, I do not give a rats ass if their vessel comes to harm. If life is lost, it is because of Greenpeace not the whalers. If Greenpeace attacks a vessel that is piracy and they should be sunk like pirates.
“I got no problem with whalers using shotguns to clear the decks of boarders.”
I humbly suggest that the harpoon gun is actually a simple cannon. Just have some appropriate ammo ready, and an old tradition of the sea can once again be reenacted.
“Give ‘em a whiff of grape.” That’s ‘grape’ as in ‘grape shot’. Functionally, think of a huge shotgun shell.
;-)
Envision Sea Shepherds treading water, icy water, after their inflatable develops lots of leaks.
;-) ;-)
Piracy, the "living, breathing" profession.
Apparently every law, statute and ruling has been "outgrown", except for Roe vs. Wade, which must remain unchanged for time immemorial.
The fact that it's the largest mammal is categorically irrelevant. All that mean is that there's a lot of meat there. After all, unless you're a vegetarian, I assume you don't ask your server at Outback Steakhouse, "Could you please make sure that the beeve this steak came from was not the largest steer in existence, or at least not from the largest breed of cattle?" or at Red Lobster, "I know the Alaskan King Crab is the largest species of crustacean out there, so I think I'll have the langustina instead...." Unless there's something notably different about the category "mammal" than the category "cattle" or "crusteacean", it doesn't provide a compelling case for distinguishing whales from the "other white meat" category.
On the other hand, I do draw the line at eating sentient or potentially sentient critters. I think horror at the recognition that a functioning id and ego would be consumed is at least partly responsible for the taboo against cannibalism and the perfectly proper response against animals that kill human beings. Whales, dolphins, wolves, apes, and elephants have all shown at least the potential for sentience
Their defense is....the dead guy did it, and since we failed, it ain’t piracy.
Apparently they think that attempting but failing to commit a crime doesn’t count.
...because Hillary isn’t available....
We should have never rescued them; they could have been easily categorized as “lost at sea”.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Thats what the Russians recently did, released them at sea, and they just didn’t make it back.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2518301/posts
They are pirates.
Yes, they are, and should be dealt with appropriately.
I don't like the concept of whaling either, and would like to see it stopped. But since it is still legal, I like the activities of these pirates even less.
I suppose in a perfect world the whalers and the Sea Shepherd folks would sink each other. Two birds with one stone and all that
Are the Sea Shepherd pirates?
Please let me know if you want on or off the Whale Wars ping list.
They should be hanged.
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