By Paula Valero
Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 153 Judge Mariam Bien convicted 17 members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) guilty of 21 counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom.
Bien sentenced the 17 to reclusion perpetua (up to 40 years of imprisonment) for each count for the kidnapping of 21 individuals in Malaysia in 2000, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said. Each of the suspects will be incarcerated for 840 years.
Among the 17 convicted were two Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM) leaders, Hilarion Roel Santos III and Redendo Dellosa. The two are high-profile individuals and were tagged by the United Nations Security Council's Sanction List for their involvement with Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, or the Taliban.
They were suspected of "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."
Other members of the convicted ASG were leaders Galib Andang, a.k.a. "Commander Robot," and Nadjmi Sabdulla, a.k.a. "Commander Global."
Robot and Global were killed while attempting to escape from their detention cell at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City.
In April 2000, 21 people of different nationalities were held at gunpoint by the convicted ASG members at a remote diving resort in Sipadan Island, Malaysia.
Those 21 people consisted of 10 tourists, including three Germans, two Finnish, two South Africans, two French, and one Lebanese. The rest were resort workers, including two Filipinos.
The hostages were taken to Talipao, Sulu, via a boat, and they were held at Jolo while the kidnappers demanded ransom from the hostage's family and their respective governments.
It took several months for the hostages to be released and their ransoms paid to the ASG members.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla praises Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Hazel Decena-Valdez for her unwavering efforts and staying resilient and vigilant to convict the terrorists.
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