Pirate suspect says Navy threatened to throw him to sharks

NORFOLK

A 27-year-old Somali man told a Navy investigator that he was hired by a group of pirates to cook and help navigate the waters off the African coast, according to new court filings in one of two federal piracy cases here.

In return, he said, he was promised $30,000 to $40,000 if they succeeded in pirating a merchant ship.

Abdi Mohammed Gurewardher now denies that he was a pirate and says the Navy threatened to feed him to the sharks if he didn't confess, according to the documents.

Gurewardher was one of five Somalis arrested April 1 after one of them fired at the Norfolk-based frigate Nicholas, which was on pirate patrol off the east coast of Africa.

He claims in the filings that during interrogation aboard the Nicholas he was stepped on and kicked repeatedly and then put into isolation for four days.

When the interrogations began, Gurewardher professed his innocence through an interpreter, who accused him of lying, according to the court filing. The interpreter told him "he must confess and admit to being a pirate or the Navy would throw (him) overboard into the shark-infested waters."

"Gurewardher believed that the Navy would in fact throw him overboard and that he must make a false confession to save his own life," his attorney, Jon Babineau, wrote in one of the court filings.

Several other suspected pirates say in their court papers that they were blindfolded, threatened, beaten and coerced into confessing as well. Some also said they were threatened with death.

Four of the five have asked a Norfolk federal judge to throw out any statements they made to the Navy because of their lack of understanding of Miranda warnings and their inability to comprehend waiving their rights, saying nothing at all and having an attorney present.

Being illiterate, coming from a country with virtually no government or individual rights, where war and brutality were part of daily life, the Somalis could not possibly comprehend what it means to have rights that Americans take for granted, their attorneys argued.

Federal prosecutors and the Navy paint a different picture. They say each suspect was read his rights and agreed, through an interpreter, to talk.

Gurewardher was interviewed that day and "immediately admitted to leaving Somalia with nine others in three vessels with the intent of pirating a merchant vessel," according to a report by Michael R. Knox, a Navy Criminal Investigative Service special agent.

In the dark of night, the Somalis "went to capture what they thought was a merchant vessel," Knox wrote in his report. After seeing "muzzle flashes," Gurewardher tried to flee but was captured and his skiff destroyed.

In a second interview two days later, Gurewardher said he was hired by the pirates' leader, Abdi Qudid, to cook and assist with navigation, Knox wrote. It's unclear what happened to Qudid.

"Gurewardher stated he was very good at reading the stars, moon and sun," Knox wrote. "Gurewardher admitted to willingly participating in the plan to pirate a merchant vessel."

Defense attorneys filed other motions this week, including one to dismiss the piracy count, claiming that no piracy took place, and another to dismiss the related counts for lack of jurisdiction.

A trial for Gurewardher and his co-defendants is scheduled for Sept. 8.

A second group of Somalis charged in a similar attack on the Little Creek-based Ashland are scheduled for trial Oct. 19.

Judges will hold hearings on pre trial motions later this month.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com