Not content to allow the mainstream media to construct a lopsided perspective of piracy in Somalia, Matsumunyane set out to make a documentary film representing the Maersk Alabama hijacking and its aftermath from Muse’s perspective. Here’s the film’s trailer:Įnter Canada-based Mosotho filmmaker Kaizer Matsumunyane. Hollywood however, can’t be bothered by such narrative inconveniences and so Sony Pictures sailed full steam into the production of their film, “Captain Phillips”, transposing Muse from the box of his prison cell to the box of the movie screen. The complexity surrounding the social and economic drivers of piracy off the Horn of Africa was lost in the media-friendly version of the story as well as any detail about the personal backgrounds of Muse and the other hijackers. It mattered not that members of Phillips’ own crew contradicted the hero’s tale by sharing how the Captain’s ineptitude led to hijacking in the first place and far from selflessly giving himself up, he was actually captured by failing to secure the ship’s bridge. He was encouraged to publish a book about his experiences, A Captain’s Duty, which more recently has been transformed by Sony Pictures into a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks. ![]() Western media outlets looking for a hero framed Captain Phillips as an altruistic leader who had given himself up to save his crew from the marauding pirates. In a dramatic assault by the US Navy, Muse’s colleagues were all fatally shot, Captain Phillips was freed and Muse himself was taken into custody. The case was historic as it marked the first time in more than 100 years that someone had been charged with piracy by the US judicial system.ĭuring the 2009 hijacking, the captain of the vessel, Richard Phillips was taken captive by Muse and three other hijackers while his crew took refuge on the ship. Muse, a young man from Somalia, was sentenced in 2011 to nearly 34 years for his role in the hijacking of an American cargo ship, the Maersk Alabama. The Maersk Alabama's crew tried to trade Muse for Phillips but were rebuffed by the pirates.Abduwali Abdukhad Muse sits anxiously in a federal prison in Indiana, while his Hollywood-constructed doppelganger prepares to leap onto a silver screen near you this weekend. Unable to take control of the massive ship, the remaining three pirates grabbed Phillips and put to sea in a lifeboat. After he and the other would-be pirates boarded the vessel, Muse was stabbed in the hand by a member of the 20-man crew during a struggle, and was then tied up by the crew. Muse and three other men stormed the Maersk Alabama, a 500-foot U.S.-flagged container ship, on April 8, 2009. "Now he will pay for those five days and the events leading up to them." Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement after the sentencing. "For five days that must have seemed like an eternity to this victims, Abduwali Abukhadir Muse terrorized the crew of the Maersk Alabama," said U.S. Preska teared up and removed her glasses and then gave Muse the maximum permitted sentence, 33 years and nine months, citing the need for deterrence. Prior to announcing the sentence, Judge Preska read aloud from Phillips' letter and from letters written by other members of the crew about how the hijacking had affected them. "He was just as much a terrorist to them as to me." "My family had to endure the five days, worrying and wondering what was going to happen," wrote Phillips. Phillips called Muse a "terrorist," said he had endured mock killings at the hands of the pirates, and asked for justice and a "proper sentence" on behalf of "all Merchant Mariners." "I ask for forgiveness from all the people I harmed, including the U.S. ![]() government in a New York courtroom today, but instead received nearly the maximum sentence allowed - nearly 34 years in prison.Ībduwali Abdiqadir Muse pled guilty last year to being part of an armed crew that stormed the Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean in April 2009 and took its captain, Richard Phillips, hostage for five days.Īt his sentencing Wednesday morning, Muse, clad in a green shirt and khaki slacks, apologized at length for his career as a pirate. 16, 2011 — - A Somali pirate asked for forgiveness from his victims and from the U.S.
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