Shabelle Media Network (Mogadishu)
22 December 2011
Seoul — The Supreme Court sentenced a Somali pirate to life imprisonment Thursday for hijacking a South Korean ship and attempting to kill the ship’s captain, upholding a previous ruling.
The top court’s decision came after a Busan appeals court delivered the same sentence for Mahomed Arai, 23, in September for attempting to murder the ship’s Korean captain Seok Hae-kyun.
‘The (lower courts’) previous acknowledgment of Arai’s intention to murder is reasonable,’ Judge Lee Sang-hun said.
Arai was one of five pirates captured during a Jan. 21 commando operation by South Korea’s Navy to rescue the South Korean chemical carrier, the Samho Jewelry, in the Arabian Sea. Eight other pirates were killed during the operation.
During the action, Seok was seriously wounded by shots fired by the convicted pirate, but 21 other crew members on board the South Korean commercial vessel were rescued without injury. The wounded captain was recently discharged from hospital after months of intense treatment.
The Navy captured the Somali pirates and brought them to Busan, the home port of the Samho Jewelry, for trial.
The Supreme Court on Thursday also upheld the previous sentences for four other captured pirates, ranging from 12 to 15 years behind bars. All were convicted of playing a role in the hijacking.
‘They should collectively shoulder the responsibility for the hijacking of the ship as they organically and systemically carried it out under pre-determined roles,’ the judge said.
Following the court decision, captain Seok said he respects the ruling, calling the sentences ‘proper’.
‘I want them to stop piracy from now on and start doing good things,’ Seok told Yonhap News Agency.
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