The Virginian-Pilot
Friday, January 20, 2012
"I'm going to try this case," U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar said at the end of a nearly three-hour hearing.
Mohammad Shibin, 52, faces 15 counts of piracy, hostage taking, kidnapping and weapons offenses in the February 2011 hijacking of the American yacht Quest in the Arabian Sea. His trial is set for April 17.
Shibin's court-appointed attorney, James Broccoletti, argued that Shibin was abducted by the Somali military and illegally turned over to the American authorities. He also argued that the conditions in Somalia are so dangerous that Shibin isn't able to raise a proper defense.
Doumar said he wants to see all the evidence at trial before making any final decisions on Broccoletti's motions.
A group of pirates hijacked the 58-foot yacht Quest in the Arabian Sea on Feb. 18. The hijacking turned deadly four days later when the U.S. Navy approached and tried to negotiate the release of the hostages.
Three of the Somalis are accused of shooting the Americans - yacht owners Scott Underwood Adam and Jean Savage Adam of Los Angeles, and their friends and crew, Phyllis Patricia Macay and Robert Campbell Riggle, both of Seattle.
Shibin was on shore at the time. Authorities say Shibin was using his cellphone to communicate with the pirates in an attempt to gain ransom money. Shibin denies the allegations.
For the first time publicly, Shibin spoke about his arrest and some of the details of the allegations when Broccoletti called him as a witness.
Speaking through an interpreter, Shibin said he was "forced" into custody by Somali army soldiers two months after the hijacking while drinking tea with family and friends at a café in Bosaso on the coast of the Gulf of Aden. He said they blindfolded him and drove him to an airport, where he was turned over to the FBI.
"I had no choice," he said. "They were Army men. I had fear for my life."
Broccoletti argued, unsuccessfully, that Shibin should have been taken before a court in Somalia before being turned over to the Americans.
On questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Hatch, Shibin acknowledged that he left for Zambia in southern Africa right after the failed hijacking. He said he lost his cellphone in a taxi there before returning home just before his arrest.
The FBI had already obtained Shibin's cellphone number and was able to extract damaging evidence against him, including text messages about the Quest attack, pictures of the yacht, and Internet search results for its owner, its worth and the family contact information.
FBI Agent Kevin Coughlin testified that Shibin told him on the flight from Africa that he had been in touch with one of the Quest pirates and had downloaded some information, but in the end decided not to participate.
The government is expected to show later that Shibin was an active participant in the failed negotiations for the release of the Americans.
Doumar denied a request by Broccoletti that Shibin's FBI statements be suppressed.
Doumar made a number of other rulings adverse to Shibin's defense. Broccoletti tried to introduce the constitution of Puntland, an independent region of Somalia with its own parliament and constitution, to show that Shibin's rights were violated by his own country's standards. Doumar rejected the request, saying the document could not be verified.
Broccoletti said he tried to subpoena the Somali ambassador to the United Nations to verify the document but the Justice and State departments told him they couldn't deliver it because of diplomatic immunity issues.
The ambassador told The Associated Press that he was too busy to come anyway, but argued that Shibin should be tried in Somalia, not here.
Doumar also withheld a decision on Broccoletti's motion to dismiss the piracy count. The issue raised is already before the federal appeals court, and Doumar said he wants to wait for that decision before ruling.
Shibin also faces piracy charges in an earlier hijacking of a German tanker. The FBI said Shibin made $30,000 as the negotiator in that attack.
Shibin remains in jail pending trial.
Eleven others have pleaded guilty to the Quest piracy attack. Three Somalis face murder charges and a possible death sentence for the killings.
Tim McGlone, 757-446-2343, [email protected]