Accused escaped without father-in-law
Published on: Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: A Filipino accused in the Lahad Datu intrusion trial left his father-in-law behind in Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu, to save himself from the armed intruders, the High Court here heard Monday. Virgilio Nemar Patulada alias Mohammad Alam Patulada, 52, said he decided to run away with his father-in-law after a skirmish occurred at the village on March 1, 2013, but his father-in-law refused to follow him. "Actually, during the skirmish, I wanted to bring my father-in-law along (to run away), but he told me that he was not fit enough and there was a possibility that we would get caught and be killed by the Sulu sultan's security personnel.
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"He said it was best that I run away by myself to save myself and, if there was an opportunity, surrender myself to the Malaysian government," he said in the Bajau language. His testimony was translated by a court interpreter. Patulada entered his defence on a charge of waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong during the armed intrusion at Kampung Tanduo in 2013. To a question by deputy public prosecutor Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar during cross-examination, the accused said he tried to force his father-in-law to escape from the village together, but the latter was adamant that Patulada ran away without him. "In the end, I ran away by myself in tears," he said.
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He told the court that he did not know what happened to his father-in-law after he had fled Kampung Tanduo. Patulada said his father-in-law brought him along to Kampung Tanduo to work as a security personnel for a Sulu 'sultan'.
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He said a man known as 'Haji Musa' had shown his father-in-law a letter from the Malaysian government permitting them to enter Sabah and that there would be no war. He told the court that they set sail for Kampung Tanduo in February 2013 and after about half an hour into the journey, he saw the 'sultan's' security men taking firearms out. He said he was told the firearms were for protection against pirates and the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group and that kidnappings could occur at sea. But upon arriving in Kampung Tanduo, the accused said the men still carried the firearms and other weapons when there was no longer any threat from pirates and the Abu Sayyaf. Patulada disagreed with Mohd Dusuki that he was also given a weapon while in Kampung Tanduo, and told the court that he felt scared and found it strange that the intruders carried guns in the village. "All I know is that it is an offence to carry guns in Sabah, but I did not dare tell them (intruders) that because I was afraid," he said. Thirteen Filipinos and a local have entered their defence before Justice Stephen Chung at the Sabah Prisons Department for various offences allegedly committed between Feb 12 and April 10, 2013. Some of the accused are facing one to multiple charges of being members of a terrorist group and waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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