Malaysia defers trial of Kiram’s ‘intruders’

From the Manila Standard Today (Sep 19): Malaysia defers trial of Kiram’s ‘intruders’

The Sultanate of Sulu slammed the Malaysian government on Wednesday for delaying justice after a Malaysian court postponed the start of the trial of 29 Filipinos who are facing the death penalty for their alleged participation in the bloody Sabah intrusion last February.

“That clearly shows that the Malaysian authorities are still building up their fabricated accusations against Datu Amirbahar and the rest of the Filipinos,” said Abraham Idjirani, spokesman of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III.

Idjirani was referring to one of the accused, Amirbahar Hussein Kiram, nephew of Kiram who was among those were are being charged with terrorism and held at a state prison in Kepayan, Kota Kinabalu since their arrest last March and April.

Judge Stephen Chung, who is hearing the charges, reset the trial after the lawyer that the Philippine embassy engaged for the 29 Filipinos, N. Sivananthan, asked for the postponement purportedly because he could not communicate with his clients, Malaysia media reported on Wednesday.

But Idjirani belied the claim, saying Amirbahar and his companions have been residents of Sabah for decades and can fluently speak the official Bahasa Malaysia.

“They can speak Bahasa Malaysia even if they’re all Filipinos. Malaysia is making that an excuse to justify their ‘kangaroo trial’ and eventual conviction of our countrymen,” Idjirani pointed out.

The 29 Filipinos were among the 200 armed supporters, led by Kiram’s brother Agbimuddin, that the sultan sent to Sabah last February to revive the sultanate’s territorial claim on Sabah. The group was called the sultanate’s Royal Security Force and Amirbahar is supposedly one of its generals.

The 10-day trial was originally scheduled to begin on Wednesday in an open courtroom at the heavily guarded Kepayan prison facility. Sivananthan told the court that his legal team had received numerous documents from the prosecution which needed time to be studied.

He said getting instructions from the 29 accused, who are of Badjao and Suluk backgrounds, would also take time as they do not speak Bahasa.

Amirbahar, along with 28 other alleged followers of the Sulu Sultanate, had pleaded not guilty to charges of Waging War Against Malaysian King Yang di-Pertuan Agong and sheltering or recruiting individuals to become members of a terrorist group during their arraignment on June 27.

Both charges carry the death sentence.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/09/19/malaysia-defers-trial-of-kirams-intruders/