3 Ampatuans appeal massacre conviction

Three members of the Ampatuan family have appealed their multiple murder conviction in relation to the 2009 Maguindanao massacre.

Former Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao mayor Anwar Ampatuan Sr. and his sons Anwar Jr. and Anwar Sajid yesterday filed their respective motions for reconsideration through their counsel, the Collado and Associates Law Offices.

In his 15-page appeal, Anwar Sr. alleged that Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes erred in her decision to

convict him for 57 counts of murder.

He noted that the evidence presented against him was circumstantial in nature and should not warrant the judgment of him being guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

“The trial court banked primarily on witness Sukarno Badal who claimed to be an eyewitness to the several meetings between the Ampatuans. In the first place, the statements were allegedly heard by a witness whose credibility is, at best, questionable,” the motion read.

“It is arduous to believe that the alleged eyewitness could have remembered everything every participant had said in those meetings. Pressed against the right of the accused to be presumed innocent, his testimony in itself cannot have any badge of credibility or truth,” it added.

Badal, former vice mayor of Sultan sa Barongis town, was one of three suspects allowed by the court to become state witnesses.

He identified those who took part in the meetings where the massacre was planned, including key members of the Ampatuan family.

Anwar Sr. – along with his sons Anwar Jr. and Anwar Sajid, and brothers Andal Jr. and Zaldy – were among 27 suspects convicted of multiple murder for the Nov. 23, 2009 bloodbath.

They were sentenced to reclusion perpetua, or up to 40 years in prison minus the time served in detention while the trial was ongoing.

In their 17-page joint motion for reconsideration, Anwar Jr. and Anwar Sajid also questioned the credibility of the testimony of Badal as among the basis for their conviction.

For instance, it noted his testimony that Anwar Jr. attended a meeting on Nov. 16, 2009 when records show that he was still in the United States at the time.

“His testimony should not be entitled to full faith and credit,” the motion read.

“It is a settled axiom that if witnesses testify falsely as to any material fact of their own testimony, their testimony should be discarded as a whole and cannot be relied on for whatever purpose,” it added.

Anwar Jr. and Anwar Sajid, grandsons of deceased clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., maintained that their identification as among those who were at the crime scene was not positive, direct and spontaneous that would warrant their conviction.

“Several supposed eyewitnesses had different versions of incidents that occurred on Nov. 23, 2009. To convict an accused, it is not sufficient for the prosecution to present a positive identification by a witness during the trial due to the frailty of human memory,” it added.

In her ruling promulgated last Dec. 19, Solis-Reyes convicted 27 people – including the five Ampatuans – for 57 counts of murder.

Fifteen others were convicted of being accessories to the crime, with a sentence of up to 10 years in prison less time spent in jail during trial.

Forty-six suspects, including two Ampatuans, were acquitted.

In deciding the case, SolisReyes grouped the suspects based on their knowledge of the murder plot and the acts they committed during the days of the massacre.

Anwar Jr. and Anwar Sajid, along with Andal Jr., were among those in the first group, or those who knew of the murder plot and actually participated in the killings.

Anwar Sr. and Zaldy were among those in the second group, or those who knew of the murder plot and committed overt acts that would still warrant their conviction.

In the case of Anwar Sr., he was alleged to have aided his brother Andal Jr. in escaping following the massacre.

Another convict, Jonathan Engid, also appealed the verdict on the basis of conflicting statements from the witnesses.

Other parties, including lawyers for Andal Jr. and Zaldy, have until today to file their respective appeals or clarifications to the Dec. 19 decision.