“Brave” USA bullies child “pirate”

Sometimes I think it’s impossible for me to think any less of the USA. And then the Yanks do something so disgusting, I’m forced to accept that there are fresh depths to which they can sink. Look at how they’re treating Abduhl Wali-i-Musi, the Somali teenager accused of masterminding the kidnap of the captain of the Maersk Alabama. According to the boy’s mother, Abduhl is just 16 years old, a boy who was tricked into participating in piracy. It’s clear he is very young – the Chicago Tribune says he is just 5 foot 2 inches in height, “and looked bewildered and so scrawny that his prison clothes were several sizes too big.” His lawyer, Deirdre von Dornum, described him as “extremely young, injured and terrified”.

The USA is determined to punish Abduhl severely for his involvement in the kidnap plot.  He is a minor – his mother says he’s 16, his defence believes he’s 15 – but the court has decided he’s 18, and so can be tried as an adult.  There doesn’t seem to have been any actual confirmation of his age – the judge first ordered the court be closed as appropriate for a minor like Abduhl; then he announce4d that he was ruling that the boy was in fact a man, and let the press and sight-seers back in.  Did someone tell the judge he’d better try Abduhl as an adult?  Maybe…

And the prosecution allege that the boy was the leader of the pirates!  Imagine: a band of cut-throats led by this little boy!  Remember, he’s 5 foot 2 and maybe as young as 15 – does this sound like a pirate captain?  More like a cabin boy!  Yet the USA seems determined to set this child up with a life sentence.  What the heck?!!

Sometimes I think the Yanks can’t get any worse.  And then they get worse…