Filipino group wanted to use force to claim Sabah
Published on: Thursday, June 08, 2017
Putra Jaya: The nine Filipinos who were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the Lahad Datu intrusion tried to use force to claim Sabah as theirs, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.DPP Wan Shaharuddin said there were negotiations between the Malaysian security forces and that leaflets had been distributed around Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu, Sabah, from helicopter asking the intruders to lay down their arms and to surrender to the police."The negotiations went sour. They chose not to leave and follow the instructions of the authorities.
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Instead they were ready for bloodshed and war," said Wan Shaharuddin."Thus, they should be sentenced to death for their role in waging war against the Yang Dipertuan Agong," added DPP Wan Shaharuddin in hearings before a three-man Court of Appeal panel chaired by Justice Mohd Zawawi Salleh.Justices Abdul Rahman Sebli and Kamardin Hashim were also on the panel.The panel is hearing the appeal filed against the sentences handed down by Kota Kinabalu High Court judge Justice Stephen Chung last year to nine Filipinos for waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong under Section 121 of the Penal Code.
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The nine are Julham Rashid, 70, Virgilio Nemar Patulada @ Mohammad Alam Patulada, 53, Salib Akhmad Emali, 64, Tani Lahad Dahi, 64, Basad Manuel, 42, the son of the late self proclaimed Sultan Sulu Jamalul Kiram, Datu Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, 54, Atik Hussin Abu Bakar, 46, Al Wazir Osman @ Abdul, 62, and Ismail Yasin, 77.Meanwhile, DPP Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud who is also the Deputy Head of the Appellate and Trial Division, submitted that it was not a case where a village boy killed another village boy.
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DPP Awang Armadajaya said this case would result in war between two countries as it involved the sovereignty of the country and its people. Nine members of the Malaysian security forces were killed in the intrusion, which occurred between Feb 12 and Apr 10 2013. He said the appeal proceedings were held in Putrajaya due to security concerns.Earlier, lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan who appeared for the nine men argued that his clients' conviction was not safe as the trial judge applied the wrong burden of proof in coming to a decision.He said that the judge had the wrong impression of his clients as they had pleaded guilty to being members of a terrorist group, adding that the judge presumed that the nine also took part in waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.Sivananthan added that there was no positive evidence to implicate his clients had waged a war.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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