Posted on 02/23/2011 7:48:29 AM PST by Qbert
The fate of the Somali pirates who allegedly killed four Americans off the coast of Somalia has yet to be determined, but the U.S. Justice Department says it is "investigating and reviewing" evidence in the case and is "committed to working with our international partners to ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are brought to justice."
The four Americans were on a yacht in the waters off the Horn of Africa when their vessel was hijacked Friday. U.S. forces were following the hijacked yacht when on Tuesday at least some of the hijackers opened fire. The hostages -- Scott and Jean Adam of California, and Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle of Seattle -- had suffered fatal wounds.
If the U.S. government decides to handle this case in the same way it has handled other recent cases of Somali pirates targeting U.S. ships, the 15 surviving Somalis currently aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier near the Horn of Africa will soon be heading for a U.S. courtroom.
The United States may not have many other options. In early 2009, Kenya and several Western countries entered into an agreement whereby Kenya would prosecute pirates captured by Western forces. But Kenya became overwhelmed by the volume of cases, and in late 2010 Kenya canceled the agreement, according to reports at the time.
Should the Justice Department, along with other U.S. authorities, decide to prosecute the 15 pirates in the United States, one of four U.S. attorneys' offices around the country could end up with the case: the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of Virginia, the Western District of Washington or the Central District of California.
Asked whether those districts are in fact in the mix, a Justice Department spokesman declined to answer, saying he is "not going to speculate...
(Excerpt) Read more at politics.blogs.foxnews.com ...
Tell you what, four people were executed. Any of the people taken into custody that participated in this hijacking, should be executed on the spot in turn.
Sorry, justice is tough on terrorists. End of story.
It costs nothing to have them “walk the plank.”
Have you talked to Obama about this? He might have different plans. He is counting on the pirate vote in 2012.
Look at the DOJ prosecution of the master mind of the bombing of US embassies in Africa. He was acquitted on hundreds of charges and convicted on only one. He could easily have been acquitted on all charges. These pirates will spend years in US custody in relative luxury compared to Somalia and could easily acquitted on some technicality. They should be held in GITMO, given a military tribunal as terrorists and hopefully executed.
Sadly, I can’t rule that out with this guy. Har...
Obama is busy telling that guy Gaddafi in Libya that what he is doing is unacceptable, and that he (Obama) will accept it.
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