A Philippine court has sentenced 17 members of an Islamic State-linked militant group to life in prison for their involvement in the 2000 kidnapping of foreign and Filipino nationals from a Malaysian resort, the Department of Justice announced on Monday, October 21.
The militants, part of the extremist group Abu Sayyaf, abducted 21 people at gunpoint in April 2000 from the Sipadan Island resort in Malaysia. The hostages, including citizens of Finland, France, Germany, Lebanon, South Africa, Malaysia, and the Philippines, were held in the remote jungles of Jolo, southern Philippines, for months until millions of dollars in ransom were paid for their release.
On October 16, the 17 men were convicted of 21 counts of kidnapping and illegal detention with ransom. According to the court’s 157-page ruling, each received a life sentence for each of the kidnapping charges.
“This conviction highlights the DOJ’s unwavering commitment to upholding justice,” the Department of Justice stated.
Two high-profile convicts, Hilarion Del Rosario Santos III and Redendo Cain Dellosa, were listed on the United Nations Security Council’s sanctions list for links to Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, and their ties to groups such as Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah, and the Rajah Solaiman Movement.
Despite their terror links, the court could not apply terrorism laws, as the abductions occurred before such laws existed in
