Saturday, August 04, 2012
WASHINGTON (AP) An alleged Somali pirate has been ordered back into custody after an appeals court reversed a lower court's decision to release him.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle ordered Ali Mohamed Ali released to home confinement at a friend's house while the government pursues an appeal that could delay his trial until next year.
But on Friday night, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously reversed Huvelle's ruling and instructed her to return him to custody pending trial. Huvelle issued an order returning him to custody of the Department of Corrections Friday night.
Ali is accused of negotiating a ransom payment during a November 2008 pirate takeover of a Danish merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden.
Source: AP