- Title: Massacre mastermind appeals Philippine court verdict of 57 murders in 2009
- Date: 3rd January 2020
- Summary: MANILA, PHILIPPINES (JANUARY 3, 2020) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF QUEZON CITY HALL OF JUSTICE VARIOUS EMPLOYEES INSIDE REGIONAL TRIAL COURT BRANCH 221 OFFICE VARIOUS DOCUMENT SHOWING APPEAL MADE BY CONVICTED SUSPECT ANDAL AMPATUAN JR. VARIOUS CLERK OF COURT SHOWING DOCUMENT EXTERIOR OF COURT OF APPEALS SIGN READING (English): "COURT OF APPEALS"
- Embargoed: 17th January 2020 10:54
- Keywords: Ampatuan Andal Ampatuan court document journalists massacre
- Location: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
- City: MANILA, PHILIPPINES
- Country: Philippines
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA001BUMAHC7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: One of the masterminds convicted of a 2009 murder of 57 people, including 32 journalists, in the southern Philippines filed an appeal on the guilty verdict at a local court in Manila, court officials said on Friday (January 3).
A document submitted to the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 dated on Thursday (January 2) showed an appeal made by former mayor of Datu Unsay, Andal Ampatuan Jr., questioning the decision. It was unclear if the dozens of other accused have filed appeals, but the deadline to file was on Friday.
Members of three generations of the influential Ampatuan family were among those sentenced to life imprisonment on multiple counts of murder, in a complicated verdict involving more than a hundred defendants. Over 28 people received the maximum penalty of life imprisonment, 15 sentenced six to 10 years and eight months, 56 acquitted and seven dismissed.
The Ampatuan family, a dynasty in the southern province of Maguindanao, had been accused of conspiring to ambush the convoy of a rival clan as it travelled to register its candidate for a gubernatorial election, an attack that spiralled into a bloodbath orchestrated by their own private army.
(Production: Oscar Abunyawan, Peter Blaza) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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