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Abdi Yusuf Hassan and Mohamed Tahlil Mohamed Abused Their Somali Government Positions in Holding Michael Scott Moore Hostage for Nearly Three Years
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that ABDI YUSUF HASSAN and MOHAMED TAHLIL MOHAMED were both sentenced to 30 years in prison for hostage taking, terrorism, and firearms offenses, in connection with the 977-day hostage taking of an American journalist in Somalia. A jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted HASSAN and MOHAMED of those offenses in February 2023 following a three-week trial. The sentences were imposed by U.S. District Judge Allyne R. Ross, who also presided over the trial.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “For nearly three years, Michael Scott Moore was held hostage in Somalia by pirates. He was beaten, chained to the floor, and threatened with assault rifles and machine guns. Hassan and Mohamed were key players in that hostage taking. Both abused their positions in Somalia’s government—Hassan, as a senior security official, and Mohamed as an army officer—by keeping a U.S. citizen captive to satisfy their own greed. Today’s sentences demonstrate our resolve to hold those who take Americans hostage accountable for their crimes.”
According to the Complaints, Indictments, evidence at trial, and statements made in public court proceedings:
In January 2012, Michael Scott Moore, an American freelance journalist, traveled to Somalia to research piracy and the Somali economy. On January 21, 2012, Moore was driving in the vicinity of Galkayo, Somalia, when his vehicle was suddenly surrounded by a group of heavily armed men carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. The men pulled Moore from his vehicle, beat him with their weapons, and drove him away in another vehicle to a secluded area, where they held him with two Seychellois fishermen (“Fisherman-1” and “Fisherman-2”). The fishermen had been abducted off the Somali coast in October 2011. Moore was held in various locations in the vicinity of Hobyo, Somalia, for approximately three months.
In April 2012, Moore and Fisherman-1 were transferred to a boat, F/V Naham III, which had previously been hijacked in March 2012. The pirates kept Moore and Fisherman-1 captive aboard the Naham III, along with 28 crew members of the ship. Moore learned from the crew members, who were from Vietnam, China, Philippines, and Taiwan, that the hostage takers murdered the captain of the ship when they captured the vessel and that his body was kept in the ship’s freezer. The hostage takers kept Moore on the Naham III until approximately August 2012, when they transferred him back to land. On one occasion, in approximately May 2012, Moore’s captors took him from the Naham III to the Somali bush, where they forced Moore to watch as they hung Fisherman-1 from a tree by his feet and beat Fisherman-1 with a cane. During the torture of Fisherman-1, the pirates who were present were armed with heavy weaponry, including machine guns and grenade launchers.
Moore remained a hostage for another two years. During this time, his captors shuttled him between safehouses, chained him at night to prevent his escape, surrounded him with armed guards, and repeatedly threatened him with bodily harm. Moore was also forced to make several proof-of-life videos requesting large ransom payments for his release. The kidnappers provided Moore with almost no information, and his access to the outside world was limited to a radio. In September 2014, following the payment of a ransom, Moore’s captors released him.
HASSAN and MOHAMED each played significant roles in Moore’s captivity. HASSAN, a naturalized U.S. citizen, served as the Minister of the Interior (a role that made him responsible for police and security forces) in Galmudug province in Somalia, where Moore was held hostage. HASSAN served as an overall leader of the pirates and headed their efforts to extort a massive ransom from Moore’s aging mother. Among other things, HASSAN directed the production of proof-of-life videos with Moore, participated in negotiations for ransom payments, and used his own home as a base of operations for the pirates. MOHAMED, a serving officer in the Somali army, was a supervisor of the pirates guarding Moore during the early stages of the hostage taking. After Moore had been moved several times, MOHAMED continued to play an essential role in the hostage taking, relying on his military position, training, and experience to serve as the pirates’ head of security and armorer. As head of security, MOHAMED was in charge of moving Moore from location to location around Somalia. MOHAMED also leveraged his military background to provide and repair heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, and other weapons that the pirates used to ensure that Moore could not escape.
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In addition to the prison term, HASSAN, 56, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and MOHAMED, 43, of Mogadishu, Somalia, were sentenced to one day of supervised release.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding efforts of the International Operations Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), the FBI’s International Violent Crimes Unit, the FBI Boston Field Office and its Portland Resident Agency, the FBI Minneapolis Field Office, the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, and the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division for their assistance.
This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Adelsberg is in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Josh Champagne of the Counterterrorism Section.
Contact
Nicholas Biase, Shelby Wratchford(212) 637-2600
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