By Qishin Tariq

KUALA LUMPUR: Seven Somalians accused of shooting at the Malaysian Armed Forces during a robbery in the Gulf of Aden have accepted responsibility for the crime as part of a plea bargain.

DPP Mohd Abazafree Mohd Abbas informed the court that the Somalis had agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge to avoid a life sentence.

In return, the prosecution said it would not appeal against the court’s decision should the sentence exceed 10 years imprisonment.

This was the second time an attempt at a plea bargain was being made.

On Oct 18 last year, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Kamardin Hashim rejected their guilty plea, saying counsel Edmund Bon had made it a conditional plea when he asked for details in the charge sheet to be amended.

Judge Kamardin then had the case transferred, to be heard before a different High Court.

The Somali nationals pleaded guilty to their amended charges which were reread on Monday, and agreed to the lengthy case facts read to them by a Somali interpreter.

The seven were given the alternate charge of firing at the armed forces with the intent to avoid lawful detention on Jan 20 2011, on board the Bunga Laurel vessel, 250 nautical miles from Oman territorial waters.

The alternative charge is punishable by life in prison, or a maximum 14 years prison, while the original charge under Section 3 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 carries the mandatory death sentence.

Judge Mohd Azman Hasin sentenced Ahmed Othman Jamal, Abdil Eid Hasan and Abdi Hakim Mohd Abdi each to 10 years in prison.

He sentenced the other four Somalis to eight years in prison, on the grounds that they were juvenile offenders at the time the crime was committed.

It was a test case for Malaysia because the suspects were detained in international waters after naval commandos rescued the Bunga Laurel and brought them to the country.

The alleged attempt to hijack the tanker, which was carrying an estimated RM30mil in lubricating oil and ethylene dichloride, was foiled by the Royal Malaysian Navy after a shootout.

Source: The Star Online