Pirates in Virginia
Paul C. Kadzielski
On April 23rd, 2010 eleven men from Somalia were arraigned in court in Norfolk, Virginia under the charges of attempting to take American ship by force and hold it for ransom. The men are accused of attacking two different United States ships with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles of the coast of Africa in 2009. In both cases the US Navy destroyed the pirates attack vessels. If convicted of piracy the men will be sentenced to life in prison. The United States District Attorney’s office has insisted on taking these cases because they involved US ship. Furthermore, Kenya, the country that has been officially tasked with handling cases of piracy off the northeastern coast of Africa, is over-burdened with cases of piracy in the region. The men are being tried under full US law.
- If these men are convicted it will give the US justice system precedent to deal with pirates attacking US ships.
- Piracy has spiked off the Eastern coast of Africa in recent years.
- Piracy is still a significant threat on the high seas.
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