Taguig court convicts 17 Abu Sayyaf members over 2000 Sipadan kidnapping
After more than two decades, the 17 leaders and members of the Abu Sayyaf group (ASG) were found guilty of kidnapping 19 foreign and two Filipino tourists in 2000.
Among these are high-profile individuals on the United Nations Security Council's sanctions list. They include Hilarion del Rosario Santos, a.k.a Ahmed Islam Santos, leader of the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM), and Redendo Cain Dellosa.
Both of them were tagged by the UN Security Council in 2008 for their association with Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, or the Taliban and for "participating in the financing, planning, preparing or perpetrating acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of and recruiting for the ASG, Jemaah Islamiyah, and the Rajah Solaiman Movement."
Alkaiser Baladji, Omar Galo, Muner Jumalla, Najer Ibrahim, Jahid Susukan, ben Mahar Abraham, Said Massud, Hajid Elhano, Jundam Jawad, Akjunib Hashim, Michael Pajiji, Alhadi Aylani, Dhad Suraidi, Julkipli Salih and Saltimar Sali were also convicted.
According to the 157-page decision promulgated on Oct. 16, the Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 153 found the ASG members guilty of 21 counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom.
This decision came after the Supreme Court found the accused and their cohorts "complicit" in the kidnapping of the hostages to extort them or their families and the government ransom money, based on the evidence presented.
It also found that the accused's alibi was not supported by any reliable evidence. Instead, the court found the prosecution's witnesses to be credible, based on their positive identification and consistent testimony.
Hence, the ASG members were sentenced to up to 40 years of imprisonment for each count and were ordered to pay their victims P300,000 as moral, civil, and exemplary damages.
Citing court records, The Philippine STAR reported that in April 2000, the year when the Philippines did not yet have a law against terrorism, ASG members abducted at gunpoint 21 tourists from a diving resort in Sidapan Island in Malaysia. They were then taken to Talipao, Sulu, and held captive in Jolo, Sulu.
ASG demanded ransom money from the families of the hostages and the government. They were released after several months when the ransom was paid.
Meanwhile, five other accused, namely Manggona Malili, Abdulkahil Malla, Abdul Mubeen Sakandal, Ahiri Tada, and Radzmar Sangkula Jul, were found not guilty of the charges and were ordered immediate release from detention.
The charges against Galib Andang (Commander Robot), Nadjmi Sabdulla (Commander Global), and several other Abu Sayyaf leaders were dropped after they were killed in a failed prison break from Camp Bagong Diwa in 2005. (With reports from Daphne Galvez)