Seventeen members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) have been convicted of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom in the hostage taking of 21 persons from Sipadan, Malaysia in 2000, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Monday, Oct. 21.
In a statement, the DOJ said that Judge Mariam Bien of the Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 153 has promulgated a 157-page decision last Oct. 16.
It said the RTC ruled: “In fine, based on the evidence presented, there is no question that accused and their cohorts were complicit in the joint purpose and design of the kidnapping of the hostages for the purpose of extorting ransom money from them or from their respective families and the government."
Those found guilty were Hilarion Santos, Redendo Dellosa, Alkaiser Baladji, Omar Galo, Muner Jumalla, Najer Ibrahim, Jahid Susukan, Ben Najar Abraham, Said Massud, Hajid Elhano, Jundam Jawad, Aljunib Hashim, Michael Pajiji, Alhadi Aylani, Dhad Suraidi, Julpikli Salih, and Saltimar Sali.
The DOJ said those convicted were sentenced "to suffer the penalty of reclusion perpetua (jail term ranging from 20 to 40years) for every count of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom.”
It also said they were ordered to pay jointly and severally to the 21 victims P100,000 as civil indemnity, P100,000 as moral damages, and P100,000 as exemplary damages all with interest at the rate of six percent per annum from the date of the finality of the judgment until fully paid.
On the other hand, five accused were found not guilty of the offenses charged. Acquitted were Manggona Malli, Abdulkahil Malla, Abdul Mubeen Sakandal, Ahiri Tadja, and Radzmar Sangkula Jul.
The DOJ noted that the accused were not charged with violations of Republic Act (RA) No. 11479, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, since “the incident happened in 2000 when the country did not yet have a law on terrorism.”
“In 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Council has adopted such UN (United Nations) Sanctions List and has officially designated the Abu Sayyaf Group as a terrorist organization,” it said.
Among those convicted, the DOJ disclosed that “Santos is the founder and leader of the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM), while Dellosa is another RSM leader.”
“The UN Security Council tagged them both in 2008 for their association with Al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden or the Taliban and for ‘participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of and recruiting for the Abu Sayyaf Group, Jemaah Islamiyah and the Rajah Solaiman Movement’,” it said.
In 2020, the ASG kidnapped from a diving resort in Sipadan 21 persons of different nationalities who were taken to Sulu where they were kept for months.
Those abducted included three Germans, two Finns, two South Africans, one Lebanese, two French, nine Malaysians, and two Filipinos.
Two ASG leaders, Galib Andang and Nadjmi Sabdulla, were arrested and prosecuted for the crime but died along with other accused during the attempted jailbreak in 2005 in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City where they were detained.