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Do you think Obama should pardon the teenage pirate captured off the coast of Somalia?

Asked by KalWest (1389points) April 21st, 2009

Associated Press excerpt:
Wali-i-Musi is the first person to be tried in the United States on piracy charges in more than a century. He was flown from Africa to a New York airport and taken into custody ahead of a court hearing Tuesday.

A law enforcement official familiar with the case said that the teenager was being charged under two obscure federal laws that deal with piracy and hostage-taking. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the charges had not been announced.

The teenager’s arrival came on the same day that his mother appealed to President Barack Obama for his release. She says her son was coaxed into piracy by “gangsters with money.”

“I appeal to President Obama to pardon my teenager; I request him to release my son or at least allow me to see him and be with him during the trial,” Adar Abdirahman Hassan said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from her home in Galka’yo town in Somalia.

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