17 Abu Sayyaf members get life for kidnapping
(UPDATE) A TAGUIG court has found 17 Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) leaders and members guilty of their direct involvement in the 2000 kidnapping of 21 people in Malaysia and for keeping them hostage for months in Sulu. In a 157-page decision dated October 16, Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 153 Judge Mariam Bien found the 17 accused guilty of 21 counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom and sentenced them to suffer reclusion perpetua for each count. Based on court records, in April 2000, ASG members abducted at gunpoint 21 individuals of different nationalities from a resort in Sipadan Island, Malaysia. Of the 21, three were Germans, two Finnish, two South Africans, one Lebanese and two French. Also abducted were nine Malaysians and two Filipinos who were resort workers. The victims were taken by boat to Talipao, Sulu and held captive in the hinterlands of Jolo, Sulu, while ASG extorted ransom money from the hostages' families and from the government. The hostages endured months of captivity in the jungles of Jolo, about 955 kilometers south of Manila, until they were ransomed for millions of dollars. ASG leaders who were involved in the kidnapping, including Galib Andang alias Commander Robot and Nadjmi Sabdulla alias Commander Global, and several members were apprehended and prosecuted shortly after the incident. However, the two leaders and several other members died during an attempted jailbreak in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City, in 2005. Among those convicted were high-profile individuals listed in the United Nations Security Council's Sanctions List, including Hilariona del Rosario Santos III alias Ahmed Islam Santos and Redendo Cain Dellosa. Santos is the founder and leader of the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM), while Dellosa is another RSM leader. The UN Security Council tagged them both in 2008 for their association with al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden or the Taliban and for "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." The accused, including Santos and Dellosa, had to be charged with kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom since the incident happened in 2000 when the country did not yet have a law on terrorism. In 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Council adopted the UN Sanctions List and officially designated the Abu Sayyaf Group as a terrorist organization. The accused were ordered to pay the 21 victims P300,000 ($5,228) for civil indemnity and moral and exemplary damages. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said this conviction is a reflection of the unwavering efforts of the DoJ in "upholding the rule of law without fear or falter."
Tomas Kauer - Moderator 
(UPDATE) A TAGUIG court has found 17 Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) leaders and members guilty of their direct involvement in the 2000 kidnapping of 21 people in Malaysia and for keeping them hostage for months in Sulu.
In a 157-page decision dated October 16, Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 153 Judge Mariam Bien found the 17 accused guilty of 21 counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom and sentenced them to suffer reclusion perpetua for each count.
Based on court records, in April 2000, ASG members abducted at gunpoint 21 individuals of different nationalities from a resort in Sipadan Island, Malaysia.
Of the 21, three were Germans, two Finnish, two South Africans, one Lebanese and two French. Also abducted were nine Malaysians and two Filipinos who were resort workers.
The victims were taken by boat to Talipao, Sulu and held captive in the hinterlands of Jolo, Sulu, while ASG extorted ransom money from the hostages' families and from the government.
The hostages endured months of captivity in the jungles of Jolo, about 955 kilometers south of Manila, until they were ransomed for millions of dollars.
ASG leaders who were involved in the kidnapping, including Galib Andang alias Commander Robot and Nadjmi Sabdulla alias Commander Global, and several members were apprehended and prosecuted shortly after the incident.
However, the two leaders and several other members died during an attempted jailbreak in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City, in 2005.
Among those convicted were high-profile individuals listed in the United Nations Security Council's Sanctions List, including Hilariona del Rosario Santos III alias Ahmed Islam Santos and Redendo Cain Dellosa.
Santos is the founder and leader of the Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM), while Dellosa is another RSM leader.
The UN Security Council tagged them both in 2008 for their association with al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden or the Taliban and for "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."
The accused, including Santos and Dellosa, had to be charged with kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom since the incident happened in 2000 when the country did not yet have a law on terrorism.
In 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Council adopted the UN Sanctions List and officially designated the Abu Sayyaf Group as a terrorist organization.
The accused were ordered to pay the 21 victims P300,000 ($5,228) for civil indemnity and moral and exemplary damages.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said this conviction is a reflection of the unwavering efforts of the DoJ in "upholding the rule of law without fear or falter."
