3 teenage boys among 7 Somalis facing death in Malaysia piracy case
Piracy suspects are escorted from a magistrate's hearing in Kuala Lumpur on January 31.
February 11th, 2011
10:41 AM ET

3 teenage boys among 7 Somalis facing death in Malaysia piracy case

Seven Somalis, including three boys under 15 years old, could face the death penalty if convicted on charges of firing on Malaysian armed forces while attempting to a hijack a merchant ship.

The seven appeared before a Malaysia magistrate in Kuala Lumpur on Friday to hear the charges against them. They did not enter a plea and were transferred to a prison to await the next court action, set for March 15, the Malaysian national news agency Bernama reported.

The charges stem from an attack on the container ship Bunga Laurel in the Gulf of Aden on January 20.

Malaysian authorities say the seven suspects fired on Malaysian navy commandos who were trying to rescue the Bunga Laurel from pirates. Three suspects were injured in the gunbattle, and the ship and its crew of 23 were rescued, according a report in The Star.

The Bunga Laurel was registered in Panama, owned by a Japanese company, crewed by Filipinos and chartered by a Malaysian company, according to news reports.

Prosecutors argued Friday that the attempted piracy endangered Malaysia's national security, providing legal authority for the seven to be tried in Malaysia, Bernama reported.

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Filed under: Malaysia • Pirates • World
soundoff (489 Responses)
  1. m

    They need to hang those pirates, in public, regardless of age. It's a vicious cycle and don't understand anything but money and death. Their is no moral compass for them. So, they need to see the ultimate punishment in order to see reality.

    February 23, 2011 at 9:31 am | Report abuse |
  2. tunafish

    When the US catchs prirates we should do what the russians did. Take away all their techs (gps,navgations) and take away the little boat engines, tow them out to the middle of now where, and let them float home.

    February 23, 2011 at 12:01 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Jason

    It won't be until we start blowing pirate vessels out of the water and leaving the pirates to the sharks that this issue will stop.

    February 24, 2011 at 6:16 am | Report abuse |
  4. Justice

    The United States Supreme Court has ruled that executing children is illegal. All civilized countries except the U.S. have abolished the death penalty. The kids should get 20 years and be rehabilitated. The adults should get life without parole. The pirates are puppets of corrupt in Somalia. They have nothing to lose as they literally starving, drink dirty water, and have no stable government or prospect for education or jobs. The pirate leaders are running out of adults so they are using children now (only 2 of the pirates are 15 yr old). I fail to understand why there has not been an international joint force go in and take-over all Somali pirate strongholds and help the Somalis choose a government. We are targeting the puppets instead of the leaders!

    February 24, 2011 at 10:47 am | Report abuse |
  5. RTZ

    I don't think that the true pirates of old would appreciate the attire today's pirates are wearing. Arrrggggg!!!

    February 24, 2011 at 2:32 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Jeff

    Since Democaracy is taking care of the Middle East. We should just go light up the skies like the fourth of july in that useless country with useless people......

    February 24, 2011 at 3:01 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Eileen Heath

    They call them boys to pull American heart strings. But in their country, they cease being boys at age 13.

    February 24, 2011 at 10:51 pm | Report abuse |
  8. capnmike

    Too bad. Many of the pirates in the 1700's were also "teenage boys"...but they know right from wrong. And they were hanged anyway. These dirtbags are not "innocent".

    February 25, 2011 at 11:27 am | Report abuse |
  9. cait

    I don't care if they are teenagers. All pirates should be SHOT ON SIGHT. Just like they do with poachers in African game parks. SHOT ON SIGHT.

    February 26, 2011 at 12:24 am | Report abuse |
  10. lorne

    One of the most idiotic posts I've ever read.

    February 28, 2011 at 12:32 am | Report abuse |
  11. Pliny

    I'm a liberal and a Democrat.

    And I say that we sink every ship that is anchored off the Somali coast.
    And I say that we napalam the entire coastline...just to be sure.

    So you pinhead republican/conservative morons REALLY need to get a better mantra than "liberals love criminals".

    I can't decide if you are BORING...or just STUPID. Probably both.

    March 9, 2011 at 1:39 pm | Report abuse |
  12. Ana

    Couldn't agree more! Which is why I've started tintegarg my Twitter feed more than Facebook (though I do frequently update FB through Twitter–both my personal and professional pages). In the couple of weeks I've been spending more time at building that Twitter foundation, I've noticed a major (for me) upswing in followers. And, I'm not really spending that much time doing it! It has to be a deliberate effort. I've been trying to find ways to increase followers, and I think I've hit on one of them: sending out links helpful to mystery writers (which is my genre of choice.) I even started my own hashtag: #mysteryresource and some of my links have been picked up by bigger Tweeters, so that always makes me excited.

    March 14, 2012 at 10:43 pm | Report abuse |
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