Cambodian upholds life sentences for two Thai Muslims
Phnom Penh - Cambodia's appeals court on Friday upheld life sentences for a Cambodian and two Thais convicted of plotting terror attacks against western targets in the kingdom, a lawyer said.
Cambodian Sman Ismael and Thais Abdul Azi Haji Chiming and Muhammad Yalaludin Mading were sentenced in 2004 to life in prison in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for plotting attacks here between 2002 and 2003.But the appeals court on Friday maintained the verdicts, lawyer Kao Soupha said, adding he would file an appeal to Cambodia's Supreme Court next week. "The presiding judge holds the same decision," Kao Soupha told AFP. The three men were among six Muslims, including Indonesian terror suspect Hambali, who were sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for plotting the 2002-2003 attacks here. Hambali -- who was tried in absentia in Cambodia - was a key Indonesian member of the Al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) extremist network. JI has been blamed for the October 2002 bombings in the Indonesian resort of Bali which killed 202 people and of deploying suicide bombers also in the resort island last year, killing 20 civilians. Hambali was arrested in Thailand in August 2003 and is now in US custody. In addition to the three and Hambali, an Egyptian and a Malaysian were tried in absentia and sentenced to life in prison in 2004. Agence France Presse
|
