Malaysia files terror charges vs 8 Pinoys

From ABS-CBN (Mar 20): Malaysia files terror charges vs 8 Pinoys

Malaysia has filed terrorism-related charges against 8 Filipinos in relation to the conflict in Sabah.

The 8 are members of a group of armed men who clashed with security forces after landing in a remote coastal area and pressing a 19th century claim to the land.

Security forces are still hunting down the remnants of the group that sailed in mid-February to Sabah state on Borneo island, eventually triggering battles that left up to 71 dead. Nine of the dead were Malaysian security personnel.

Bernama news agency said 8 men, aged between 17 and 66, were chaged with terrorism and waging war against Malaysia's king after appearing in a heavily guarded court in the coastal town of Lahad Datu, site of most of the fighting.

Death penalty

Waging war against Malaysia's king carries a possible death penalty while they could face life imprisonment if found guilty of terrorism.

The men entered no plea.

Neither police nor the attorney general's office could be reached for comment.

Masidi Manjun, Sabah state tourism minister, told ABS-CBNnews.com that local lawyers want to defend the 8 men.

"[They were] charged under provisions under Malaysian Law & local Bar Association has offered legal counsel," he said on Twitter.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been under pressure to take a tough stand after security forces took no action against the intruders for two weeks. Najib must call a national election in weeks and his party, in power since independence from Britain in 1957, faces a tough contest.

Ties with the Philippines, periodically strained by security and migration issues, could be further soured by the case.

The group of about 200 engaged in weeks of negotiations over their claim to the region before Malaysian forces mounted an all-out assault in oil palm-fringed coastal areas.

Militants who escaped the onslaught went into hiding, surfacing occasionally for gun battles with Malaysian forces.

The Filipino group is demanding recognition and increased payment from Malaysia for their claim to Sabah, part of Borneo leased by the Sultanate of Sulu to British colonialists in the 19th century.

Members say they are a part of the Sultan of Sulu's army and offered a unilateral ceasefire rejected by Najib.

US regrets Sabah incident

Meanwhile, the US government has expressed regret at the violence in Sabah, according to the Department of National Defense (DND).

Visiting US Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin discussed the issue in their meeting in Camp Aguinaldo Tuesday.

"It was mentioned in passing," DND spokesman Peter Paul Galvez said on Wednesday.

"They feel sad of the incident happening. They regret that it occurred," he added.

Carter did not say if Washington will intervene to end the conflict.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/03/20/13/malaysia-files-terror-charges-vs-8-pinoys