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Malaysian "Islamic Jihad" Cult Group Found Guilty of Rebellion
With additional reporting by Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA, Dec. 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Malaysia's High Court found 19 members of a little-known Muslim sect guilty on Thursday of armed rebellion to set up an Islamic state, and the men may now be sentenced to death by hanging.
Members of Al-Ma'unah were found guilty by the High Court of waging war against the King of Malaysia in three incidents in Perak last year.
Justice Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin made the decision after rejecting a defense plea.
The leader of the shadowy Al-Ma'unah cult, Mohamed Amin Razali, and his followers were captured after a shootout in the jungle just weeks after the gang pulled off an arms heists at two army camps in the middle of last year.
Leaders of the sect, which began under the guise of a martial arts group, said its mission was to fight on behalf of suppressed Muslims, and convinced followers they possessed mystical powers that would protect them in battle.
The judge said: "Under the provisions of section 94 of the Penal Code, intimidation or threat is not a defense for offences against the state like the offences under section 121.
"I find that based on the evidence adduced, the facts and the conditions in the case do not show that the accused were in a situation where they were unable to escape from Mohamed Amin [Mohamed Razali] in Bukit Jenalek," he said.
"I hereby find the accused guilty of waging war against the government to set up an Islamic state through violent means under the name of Islamic
jihad [struggle]," concluded the judge.
After handing down the verdict, the judge began hearing mitigation pleas by the defense for the accused men, who could face the death penalty or life imprisonment.
"Please don't send us to the gallows," tearful Ibrahim Idris, a 46-year-old former soldier, pleaded from the dock as he apologized to the Malaysian king and fellow Malaysians.
Zulkefli said 12 of them had chosen to give their defense under oath and six to make unsworn statements from the dock while Mohamed Amin had chosen to remain silent.
He said the court was satisfied that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt against all of them.
Sentences are expected to be delivered Friday afternoon. Relatives wept and tried to reach the convicted men, most of them bearded and wearing white skullcaps, as they were led handcuffed from the packed courtroom after the verdict was read.
The judge said evidence identified Amin, 30, as the ringleader, and said the others blamed the former army private and self-styled religious teacher for encouraging them in his
jihad.
Others found guilty included a serving army major, a former police commando and a religious student, who had studied at Cairo's famous al-Azhar University.
For their training they were shown videos of Muslims waging jihad in the strife-torn Indonesian province of Maluku.
In July last year, sect members posed as senior army officers and drove off with a huge cache of weapons and communications equipment from two military camps in northern Perak state.
They holed up on a jungle hillock with the stolen arsenal and held off security forces for several days.
A soldier, a policeman and a sect member were killed before 29 Al-Ma'unah followers were captured, ending one of the most serious security breaches the country has seen.
Ten members of the group were sentenced early last year to 10 years in jail after the prosecution amended the charges against them to a lesser one of preparing to wage war.
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