Somali King of Pirates Now in Jail!

Somali Pirate Kingpin Gets Life In Prison.

Somali pirate kingpin Mohamed Abdi Hassan, nicknamed Afweyne, has, for the first time, been allowed to meet his wife while in prison, as revealed by close family members.

Afweyne was imprisoned on November 2013 in a fake Hollywood movie style organized inducement which lured him to jail in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

Afweyne captured the attention of the international media during the height of the piracy along the Somali coastline between the years 2009/2010, when more than ten ships were hijacked.

KING OF PIRATES
Afweyne, King of the Pirates

Afweyne was arrested together with former president of Himan and Heb administration Mohamed Adan Tici, who was accused of being part of the pirate foundation.

The first pirates were angry fishermen claimed to be looking after their territorial integrity so they called themselves ‘coast guards’ and they were right at some point because many countries were illegally fishing the Somali waters; these pirates captured foreign vessels and demanded a “fee.” That is how everything started.

Somali pirates were well-organized criminals exploiting the horrible deterioration of the country.

Local conflicts, disorder, lack of Judiciaries, inadequate security, and the promise of ransom rewards have all encouraged and sustained them since.

The pirates jeopardy has now disappeared due to the recent functioning political system in the country and the global fight against them.

Omar Wardere
Omar Wardere is a Somali researcher, reporter and editor. He is a committee member of National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) and member of Foreign Correspondents Association of East Africa.