The men accused of killing Maltese port manager Paul Formosa in Somalia last February were sentenced to death by a military tribunal, Somali media report.
The Somali website Garowe Online reports that a member of the Puntland Maritime Police Force has been sentenced to death for “facilitating the murder.” Others have received the same sentence in absentia.
One of the Formosa’s killers was shot in the head during the attack, with the second having died in hospital from injuries sustained during the attack.
Paul Formosa was shot and killed by Somalia’s al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group in February whilst working for a Dubai government-owned port operator in the country’s semi-autonomous Puntland region.
The attack on Dubai’s P&O Ports came as the United Arab Emirates has rapidly expanded its port operations and military presence in Somalia and across East Africa. In claiming the attack, al-Shabab said it targeted the man because he worked for a company that “occupies” Somalia’s Bosaso Port, likely a worrying sign for the Emiratis amid their expansion.
