The lone survivor of the Somali pirate crew that hijacked the Maersk Alabama arrived downtown Monday night, looking young, gaunt and clueless about the federal charges he faces.
Abduhl Wali-i-Musi is expected to be arraigned in a Manhattan federal courtroom on Tuesday morning. He arrived at 26 Federal Plaza in a driving rain, handcuffed and flanked by nearly a dozen FBI agents.
The youthful pirate held his head high atop his 5-foot-5 frame, and even smiled at photographers as he was hustled into the building.
"This hasn't happened for 100 years in the United States," said Michael Passman, a Chicago lawyer who has studied piracy law since his days at Brooklyn Law School.
Investigators have determined that Wali-i-Musi is at least 18 years old. That means prosecutors will not have to take extralegal steps to put him on trial in U.S. court.
His mother insists he is only 16, and she told The Associated Press "gangsters with money" coaxed her son into piracy.
"I appeal to President Obama to pardon my teenager," said Adar Abdirahman Hassan.
It's unclear what charges would be filed, but officials said he could face up to life in prison if convicted.
While his three cohorts held Capt. Richard Phillips hostage on a lifeboat, Wali-i-Musi was taken aboard a Navy ship. Some time later, Navy SEAL snipers killed the other pirates.
Piracy is one of the only crimes for which there is universal jurisdiction, Passman said. That means any country that captures a pirate can seek to prosecute them.
In 2006, the U.S. captured a Somali pirate, but the case was prosecuted in Kenya.
The difference for Wali-i-Musi is that he and his cohorts boarded a U.S. vessel more than 12 miles offshore in international waters.
Officials decided to try him in New York, partly because the Manhattan FBI office has handled cases in Africa involving crimes against Americans, including the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies.
Wali-i-Musi also may have trouble finding a lawyer familiar with piracy laws.
"Anyone who ever defended one of these cases has been dead for 100 years," Passman said.
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Waiting for your return after spending a wonderful day
Top4u team ....
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