Somali pirate's smile turns to tears; charged with crimes that could send him to jail for life
BY Thomas Zambito, Christina Boyle and Tracy Connor
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Updated Tuesday, April 21st 2009, 4:41 PM
Williams/AP
Lanzano/AP
Police and FBI agents escort the Somali pirate suspect U.S. officials identified as Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse into FBI headquarters in New York on Monday.
A Somali sea bandit wept as he was hit with piracy charges Tuesday that could put him in the brig forever.
Lawyers for Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse portrayed him as a wide-eyed victim of the crew that hijacked the Maersk Alabama, but the feds described him as a swaggering buccaneer.
He was among the first to storm the U.S. ship on April 8, fired at Capt. Richard Phillips and stole $30,000 from a safe, according to a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan.
He allegedly forced Maersk sailors to lower a ladder so more pirates could board - but then was tricked into putting down his weapon, tackled and tied up.
The rest of the pirates agreed to leave the Maersk only if the crew freed Muse and gave them a lifeboat - where they held Phillips hostage for four days.
"Muse told the captain that he had hijacked other ships before," the complaint charged, adding that he distributed the $30,000 in plunder on the lifeboat.
Muse was on a Navy ship, trying to broker a deal to end the standoff, when SEALs killed the other pirates and rescued Phillips on April 12.
He was flown to New York because the Manhattan FBI office prosecutes crimes in Africa. It was unclear why Muse's name in the formal federal account differed from that previously reported.
Wearing a prison jumpsuit and a bulky bandage on his wounded left hand, Muse was seen crying in the courtroom - a day after he smiled for the cameras while being led into 26 Federal Plaza.
He said little during the hearing beyond pleading poverty.
"I don't have any money," he told told Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck during a discussion of whether he could afford a lawyer.
Prosecutors presented a charge of piracy, which carries a life sentence, and four related counts.
The courtroom was briefly closed for a hearing on his age after the defense disputed claims he was at least 18.
The judge called Muse's father, who said the suspect was his eldest son, born in November 1993, making him just 15.
Pressed further, the father said his fourth-born son was born in 1990 - and the judge ruled his testimony was not credible.
Muse's court-appointed lawyers said they will appeal the age ruling and also want to see if he's subject to Geneva Convention rules on international prisoners.
They said he was shackled and blindfolded for eight days and had not been given pain medication for his hand in 24 hours.
"He is extremely young, injured and terrified," said lawyer Deirdre von Dornum.
She said it was possible the fisherman was kidnapped by the pirates during Somalia's civil war and forced to participate in the siege of the Maersk.
Asked about her client's seemingly cheerful demeanor before the media on Monday, von Dornum said, "He's never seen a camera before."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2009/04/21/2009-04-21_is_somali_pirate_that_helped_hijack_maersk_alabama_an_adult_or_just_a_kid_hearin.htmlHis lawyer, Deirdre von Dornum was a clerk for Ruth Buzzy Ginsberg 1999 - 2000
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