Ready to prosecute? Suspected pirates on trial in Hamburg.

The first “Piracy Trial” in Germany in 400 years is coming to an end after a year and a half. Since November 2010, ten Somali, of which three are under age, have been on trial in Hamburg. They are charged with having attacked the container vessel Taipan, owned by a German company.

The trial and the complicated circumstances are raising numerous judicial questions. After 77 days of trial, the verdict is expected in March. The prosecution is demanding sentences of between four and eleven and a half years.

Public meeting
Tuesday, 6 March 2012, 7pm
German Seaman's Mission, Krayenkamp 5 (near St Michaelis Church, metro station Stadthausbrücke)

Speakers:
Anita Friedetzky, trial observer
Jan Oltmanns, seaman's deacon
Reimer Dohrn, “No one is illegal” network
Said Ahmed H. Jama, Somali translator

Facilitation
Frank Engelbrecht, Pastor St Katharinen church

Organisation
Zentrum für Mission und Ökumene – Nordkirche weltweit (bisher Nordelbisches Missionszentrum)
Brücke – Ökumenisches Forum HafenCity
Eine Welt Netzwerk Hamburg e.V.

Flyer- [pdf]: http://www.ewnw.de/sites/default/files/handzettel-piratenprozess-2012-web.pdf

The “Piracy Trial” in Hamburg – part of European war logic

Translation of an article written by one of the trial observers.

“The prosecution of alleged pirates is an important, deterring part of the actions against piracy” the web site of the German foreign office states under the heading of the EU anti-piracy mission 'Atalanta'. Since November 2010, ten Somali have been standing trial in Hamburg, three of them under-age, having the mentioned deterrence performed on them.

This is the first trial of its kind in Germany. The “alleged pirates” have been remanded in custody for two years and eight months – at first for a week on the Dutch frigate 'Tromp', chained to the deck and subject to dubious interrogations by the military intelligence service, then in a Dutch jail and then in pretrial custody for 17 months. The teenagers are held in the juvenile detention centre 'Hahnöversand', the others in Hamburg's remand prison.

For the court hearings, the under-age defendants are driven across town in a prison van, their hands and feet tied, where they join the others in an underground cell. From there they are brought to the court room, each by one guard. The press sits in the actual court room, the public – whose interest is waning - remains behind a glass wall.

Court report 18 October 2011

Court report 18 October 2011

“You live in paradise – we live in hell”. Two more personal statements of the defendants and a missing witness.

Originally, another member of the Taipan crew from the Sri Lanka was supposed to appear in court today, but didn't show up. Although 9 of the defence counsel had already indicated that they didn't require the witness, he was still summoned. But the sailor is at sea, so the summons could not be served.

Piracy Trial out in the open - two speeches

Two of the speeches held at the press conference outside the Hamburg Criminal Justice Building on July 15.


Speech by Abdulahi Mohamud Qalimow

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The ongoing state of war in Somalia; the hunger, abject poverty and injustice are strong forces that over the decades have torn the country apart. Today, the recruitment of children by Warlord gangs, Klans and Pirates is part of everyday life. These groups polarise the country for their own interests and have no scruples. Somalia is a country in ruins, a country in which millions of civilians suffer under the ravages of war.

A War Without Declaration

EU-NAVFOR (European Navy Forces) - 'Mission Atalanta': A War Without Declaration

The defendants in the so-called 'Pirate Trial' were, on 5th April 2010, attacked on the German containership Taipan by a Dutch warship, the Tromp. Heavy weapons were used and the defendants were held captive for a week on board thr Tromp as they were transported to Mogadischu. During this time highly questionable interrogations, described later as just harmless 'conversations', took place. The person who conducted the interrogations later admitted to being an officer of the Dutch Naval Intelligence. And the former captain of the Tromp received a medal for his 'special services to the navy'.

The trial so far

What happened so far

Since November 22, 2010 ten Somali men have been standing trial in Hamburg. They are charged with having hijacked the freighter “MV Taipan” in the Indian Ocean and demanding ransom over Easter 2010.

The Taipan was sailing under German flag and the men were captured by a special unit of the Dutch navy – although no one has been able to tell the court of who actually ordered them to do so. The ten men were chained to the railing on the Dutch frigate “Tromp” for several days and interrogated – voluntary statements, according to the Dutch crew. The commander of the Tromp insists that they didn't arrest the men, they merely 'found' them on board the Taipan – which raises the question of how they ended up in a court if they were never arrested.

To the Unknown Pirate

The following text is the translation of a speech held by anti-war activists during a “Commemoration for the unknown Pirate” in Laboe on 28 August 2010. Laboe, a suburb of the town of Kiel, is well known for its war memorial and its regular official ceremonies to commemorate the “unknown soldiers” who have died at sea. A report of the event can be found here.

Today we commemorate those among the seamen who have become victims of the sea during times of globalisation but have never been mentioned on any memorial plaque, in any public oration nor at any minute´s silence: The unknown pirates.

Here in Laboe, the state pays homage with a monumental expense to the military branch of seafaring. Several monuments have been set in this hicksville for those sailors who have given their lives in the violent prevention of goods transport via sea. A submarine to admire, an oversized monument in the shape of a vulture to remember the submariners' death in allegiance to the state and an immense phallus to honour imperial traditions of the navy, leave no doubts about the substance and meaning of christian seafaring: Yesterday – today – tomorrow, everything by means necessary for the benefit of the nation and the capital.

Age Determination

Disputes about the process of “Age Determination” have a history in Hamburg. The process has been used for decades to ascertain if refugees arriving in Germany are minors (people under the age of 18) or adults. This distinction is important from a legal perspective: minors are granted a number of protections that adults aren't. Minors have a right to attend school and cannot be deported as easily as adults (according to the Dublin II agreement, adult refugees can immediately be deported back to the country of their first entry into the EU). The state has an obligation to care for children, which it doesn't have for adults.

The process of 'age determination' is therefore, in reality, one of 'making people older'. 

The trial

Since 22nd November 2010, a group of ten Somali men have been on trial in the Hamburg Youth Court. They are facing charges of kidnapping and seizing a ship, charges that carry a maximum of 15 years imprisonment. What they are alleged to have done is board a German ship, the 'Taipan', as it sailed 500 miles off the coast of Somalia last April. The group were captured by a Dutch marine commando and taken to Netherlands and from there they were extradited to Germany to stand trial in Hamburg. Hamburg being the city where the ship's owner's multi-national company is registered.


20 lawyers are representing the ten accused and so far 14 trial dates have been set, meaning that the proceedings are set to last until the end of January 2011. The reason the case is being heard in the youth court is that three of the defendants are not yet adults in German law. The youngest is only 13 years old and cannot be tried under German law.

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