Malaysian among trio jailed for plans to join militants
KOTA KINABALU: A Malaysian man who celebrated his 49th birthday yesterday was sentenced to 10 years' jail by the High Court here yesterday for intending to go to Marawi City in southern Philippines from Malaysia to join the Islamic State (IS) militants in an ongoing war with the Philippine security forces.
Justice Ravinthran Paramaguru handed down the sentence to Nor Azmi Zahyi from Selangor, after the latter admitted to a charge under Section 130JA of the Penal Code.
The indictment carries a maximum jail term of 30 years and shall also be liable to a fine upon conviction.
The accused, who earned a living as a welder, was caught committing the offence in front of a shop at Jalan 3, Pusat Bandar Sandakan on June 15, 2017.
Two Indonesian men - lorry driver Faisal Abu Bakar, 27 and Ali Misron, 37, a carpenter, were also jailed for 10 years each for committing a similar offence at the same time and place.
Ali Misron received another two years behind bars for storing 13 pictures and four videos which had terrorism elements related to IS in a cellphone at the Sandakan Airport arrival hall on the same day.
The offence, under Section 130JB (1) (a) of the Penal Code, carries a jail term of up to seven years or a fine and those items involved could be forfeited, upon conviction.
In his decision, the judge held that the accused persons should think about their families before committing the offences and that was not a mitigating factor in these cases.
However, the judge had taken into account that all of them were remorseful and had pleaded guilty to their separate charges.
The judge further held that all of them had committed a serious offence, which was planning to go to support an active ongoing armed rebellion in Marawi.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P Kunyalam told the court that the three accused persons were arrested by a police team from Sabah Special Branch E8 Counter-Terrorism on June 15, 2017 at 12.20pm at the said place.
An investigation revealed that the trio had planned to go to Tawi-Tawi, Philippines for the purpose of proceeding on with their journey to Marawi together, and their journey was planned in order to join the militants which were already there.
These three accused persons had communicated via an application called Facebook Messenger since May 29, 2017 and named their chatting group in that Messenger as ‘Tornado30'.
The prosecution said in that chatting group, Nor Azmi had used two names, which were ‘Puting Beliung Tornado' and ‘Panglima Hitam' while Faisal's name was ‘Taher Faisal Faisal' and Ali's chatting name was ‘John Raven'.
Also in that chatting group was a prosecution witness named ‘Iman Andalusia', who recorded all their conversations and gave them to the investigating officer of the case.
Those conversations stated that they had wanted to go to Marawi via an illegal route between Sabah and the Philippines and they had also planned to meet at a mosque at Bandar Sandakan, the same day they were arrested by the police.
The prosecution explained that IS had been gazetted as a terrorist organization under Section 66B and 66D of the Anti-Money Laundering, AntiTerrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities (AMLATFPUA) Act 2001 on November 12, 2014.
In mitigation, Nor Azmi, who was unrepresented, prayed for a lenient sentence to be imposed on him as he had regretted with what he had done.
“I don't want to inform my family about this; that is why I don't call them, I don't want them to know about this,” said Nor Azmi, who is married and have children.
When the judge asked how old are you? Nor Azmi answered: “I'm 49, today is my birthday.”
Nor Azmi also said he was an orphan since he was one-year-old, and applied to the court to serve his jail term at Sungai Buloh, Selangor.
Meanwhile, Kota Kinabalu Indonesian Consulate officeappointed counsel Farazwin Haxdy for Faisal and Ali Misron, urged the court to impose a short imprisonment term on his clients on the grounds that they were remorseful with what they had done and they had families to support.
Farazwin said Faisal was unmarried but had a mother and siblings who depended on Faisal, while Ali Misron had one sister who was suffering from mental problems that really needed his attention and care with medication.
In reply, the prosecution wished Nor Azmi a happy birthday and told the court that Nor Azmi and the two other accused persons had committed a serious offence.
The prosecution pressed for a deterrent sentence to be given on the trio to serve as a lesson to would-be offenders in the future.
Ahmad Mustaffa also said the three accused persons had communicated in that chatting group and all of them were committed in joining an armed rebellion in Marawi, and this showed their support to join the war which involved the use of arms and ammunitions.
The judge also ordered for Faisal to serve his jail term from the date of his arrest but consecutively with his previous jail sentence of five years for possessing knives on the same day he was arrested, while Ali Misron was also ordered to serve his custodial sentences for both his charges consecutively.
In the proceedings yesterday, the prosecution had tendered a number of exhibits such as police reports, search forms, pictures, passports, boarding passes, screenshots of the accused persons' conversations on the Messenger group, forensic reports, expert reports, cellphone, simcards and a memory card.