KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 (Xinhua) -- A Malaysian court on Thursday sentenced nine Filipino militants to death for participating in the incursion into the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah in 2013, which led to the death of more than 70 people, including Malaysian soldiers and policemen.
The Appeals Court in Putrajaya overturned the life imprisonment given by a court in Sabah last year and sentenced the nine to death, the New Straits Times reported.
The three-judge panel said the nine men, followers of a self-proclaimed Filipino sultanate, were held accountable for conspiring to reclaim Sabah via the means of war and causing the deaths of Malaysian citizens.
In 2013, a group of about 180 Filipinos landed in Sabah's Lahad Batu through southern Philippines and threatened to reclaim Sabah to the Sulu sultanate of Jamalul Kiram III.
Conflicts erupted between the militants and the Malaysian authorities after they refused to leave, which became one of the most serious conflicts on the Malaysian soil in recent years.
