‘Give them death sentence’
PUTRAJAYA: The terrorists in the 2013 Lahad Datu incursion should be sentenced to death, the Court of Appeal was told.
Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that the incident could have triggered a war between two countries if it were sanctioned by a foreign government.
He was appealing against the natural-life prison sentence given to the nine Filipinos for waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
“It wasn’t a quarrel between two boys. If it were sanctioned by a foreign government, it would had led to a war between two countries because what had happened was an armed intrusion by a terrorist group,” he said.
Awang, who led a six-member prosecution team, said the death sentence should be imposed on the nine people who were part of the so-called Royal Sulu Force (RSF), which entered Malaysian waters on Feb 9 four years ago in Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu, Sabah, to “reclaim” part of Borneo as their ancestral land.
He said the incursion should not be tolerated and the case should not be underestimated or weighed against other cases.
He said a clear message should be sent that armed intrusions involving foreign intruders could not be tolerated.
A three-man Court of Appeal panel comprising Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh, Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli and Datuk Kamardin Hashim will deliberate and may give their decision today or inform the parties when judgment would be delivered.
On July 26 last year, the Kota Kinabalu High Court imposed the natural-life sentence on the nine, including Datu Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, nephew of the late self-proclaimed Sulu Sultanate ruler Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, who masterminded the intrusion. They were found guilty of waging war against the agong.
Kiram, 54, Julham Rashid, 70, Virgilio Nemar Patulada @ Mohammad, 53, Salib Akhmad Emali, 64, Tani Lahad Dahi, 64, Basah H. Manuel, 42, Ismail Yasin, 77, Atik Hussin Abu Bakar, 46, and Al-Wazir Osman, 61 — were charged under Section 121 of the Penal Code, which carries the death sentence or imprisonment for life, upon conviction.