Philippines to seek clemency for 9 Filipinos sentenced to death in Malaysia

January 16, 2018

The Philippine government will seek clemency for nine Filipinos who were sentenced to death for their involvement in a bloody attempt to seize Sabah from Malaysia in 2013.

Malaysia's highest court  on Monday affirmed the decision of an appeals court convicting the Filipinos of the crime of waging war against the Malaysian King during an assault on Lahad Datu in Sabah, news reports said.

"The embassy legal team is now initiating the appeal for clemency to the King," a Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs statement said Tuesday.

The nine Filipinos were:  Julham Rashid, 70; Virgilio Nemar Patulada alias Mohammad Alam Patulada, 53;  Salib Akhmad Emali, 65; Tani Lahad Dahi, 64;  Basad Manuel, 42;  Datu Amirbahar Hushin Kiram, 54; Atik Hussin Abu Bakar, 46;  Al Wazir Osman alias Abdul, 62; and  Ismail Yasin, 77.

In February 2013, followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III deployed about 200 men, some of them armed, to Malaysian-controlled Sabah to press the royal clan's historical claim on the island.

This resulted in two months of deadly clashes with Malaysian forces. Dozens of Kiram's men were killed while eight Malaysian soldiers died in the confrontation.

The violence in Lahad Datu threatened to strain Manila's warming ties with Malaysia - the broker of the country's peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, as calls for the government to revive a long-shelved claim to Sabah emerged.

The DFA said they have been assisted and represented by Datuk N. Sivanathan, an International Criminal Court-certified lawyer whose services were arranged by the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and paid for by the Philippine government.

The DFA said the Philippine government has extended legal and other forms of assistance to all the defendants from the trial stage of their case up to the appeal. It added it will continue to help them as their case progresses. DMS