Manila: The Philippine Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction of three members of the Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian militant group linked to the Al Qaida terror network, in connection with the December 30, 2000 bomb attack in Metro Manila that killed 22 people.
In a decision released on Thursday, the appellate court's seventh division upheld the guilty verdict handed down by the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 29 against Mukhlis Hadji Umpara Yunos (alias Hadji Onos, Moklis, Muklis and Mocles); Zainal Paks (alias Paks and Mamasao Gaon Naga) and Mohammad Amir (alias Amir and Abdul Fatak Paute).
The three were sentence to life imprisonment.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court that found the three "guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crimes of multiple murder, multiple frustrated murder, and multiple attempted murder."
The bomb attacks took place during the birth anniversary of national hero Jose Rizal, hence it came to be known as the Rizal Day Bombing.
Defence dismissed
In the ruling, Associate Justice Danton Buesser, Rosmari Carandang and Ricardo Rosario dismissed the defendants' claim that they were not in Metro Manila when the bombings took place.
The appellate court considered the testimony given by several witnesses led by Cusain Ramos, who confessed to helping the three and their cohorts in procuring explosives used in the bombing.
