Saturday, August 14, 2004 17 Abu Sayyafs sentenced to death
ISABELA, Basilan -- Seventeen members of an extremist group linked to Al-Qaeda were sentenced to death by a Philippine court for kidnap and murder Friday, in Isabela, Basilan province.
The defendants, including four who were tried in absentia after a prison breakout in April, were allegedly all members of the Abu Sayyaf group.
They each received three death sentences plus life imprisonment for the murders and abductions on the southern island of Basilan in 2001.
It was the first mass conviction of members of the Abu Sayyaf, self-styled militants, who have been kidnapping and killing persons and foreigners.
Some of the convicted men sobbed when the verdict was read out at the tightly-guarded court house in the capital of Basilan island while crowds outside the building shouted curses at the defendants.
About 200 police and soldiers, backed by two armored cars, secured the entire street where the court house is situated.
The group, followers of Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani, seized three Americans and a group of Filipino tourists and resort workers from the western island of Palawan and brought them to Basilan in May 2001.
They then seized more Filipino hostages in Basilan, killing several of them when they found they could not pay the ransom.
Many Filipino hostages were recovered or were freed after ransoms were paid. However, an American hostage, Peruvian-born Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded while another, missionary Martin Burnham, was killed when troops stormed the Abu Sayyaf camp in June 2002.
Martin's wife Gracia was recovered alive and last month she returned to the Philippines to testify against other accused Abu Sayyaf members in a separate trial in Manila.
The convictions only involved murders and kidnappings of Filipinos committed on Basilan and the Abu Sayyaf members will face other charges for the deaths of Sobero and Martin Burnham, court officials said.
All capital punishment cases must be reviewed by the Supreme Court before the death penalty is carried out.
As they were led out of the courtroom, some of the defendants shouted defiantly, "Allahu Akbar" (God is great).
One of the convicted men, Bashir Mandangan, said: "It's okay, even if you kill me 10 times, I am still happy. Tell that to your government."
The Abu Sayyaf have been linked by both the US and Philippine governments to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.
Philippine troops, with US training and support, have weakened the Abu Sayyaf in recent months, but the group remains active in the southern islands.
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