Letter to the public-Release of the child of one of the accused of the "pirate" trial in Hamburg‏

17 February 2013
Letter to the public-Release of the child of one of the accused.

While the written verdict and sentence have only just now – almost three
months after the verbal sentence has been passed (*) – a been received
by the lawyers, the child of one of the prisoners is free! It was
released with the money raised from the sale of the booklet about the
kidnapping.

The verbal sentencing took place in November 2012. With the exception of
the 'crown witness', all of the accused filed an appeal. However, the
experience of spending two years in remand prison had its effect on the
prisoners, and their wish for better conditions in a 'normal' prison was
greater, so by and by they withdrew their appeals. Currently, only two
of the then juvenile prisoners still have an appeal going.

The court remained true to its tradition and took almost three months to
release the written sentence, while the verbal sentence had been
published on reclaim-the-seas.blogspot.com for weeks – transcribed word
for word by trial observers.

With the verdict having been received formally by the lawyers, they now
have one month to argue their appeal. One could have the impression that
the court deliberately waited until the defendants had withdrawn their
appeals, public interest in the trial had disappeared and the media had
lost interest.

But there is one positive development that could still be of public
interest: the release of the child of one of the accused.

He had told the court how he failed to catch fish any more, was in debt
with a grocery store owner and how the shop owner then abducted his
5-year-old son in order to retrieve the money. That is why he had joined
the attack on the Taipan - to earn the money to release his son.

In 2012, the solidarity group produced an illustrated booklet with the
story. 380 signed copies of the book were sold for €5 each. The money
was used to pay the ransom for the child, while the prisoner was
desperately waiting in his prison cell.

In December 2012, enough money was collected and in January the money
was handed over to the shop owner and subsequently the child was
released. The seemingly impossible had been made possible.

The release of the child confirms how arrogant the court has been in its
attitude towards the defendants. The judge had accused the defendant of
lying about his child because he had not repeated the story during his
last words in court.

Here is some advice for the court: fortunately, there is a life outside
the courtroom. In this other life, the defendant knew that money was
being collected for the release of his child. That is why he didn't see
the need to mention it again. He had given up hope of being understood
by the court.

Instead, there are people outside the court world who don't want to
leave the prisoners to themselves. The group that has been observing the
trial is planning further public meetings, harbour cruises, public
displays and film screenings, and will continue to sell the booklet in
order to support the prisoners and to talk about the situation in Somalia.

The Prisoner Support Group, No One Is Illegal Hamburg, Third World
Harbour Group Hamburg.

http://reclaim-the-seas.blogspot.com

(*) In German courts, the verdict and sentence are first passed verbally
and then the written version is sent to the lawyers soon afterwards. For
this to take several months is highly unsusual.