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7/01/2555

Pulo member gets life in jail


·         Published: 28/06/2012 at 01:34 AM
·         Newspaper section: News

The Appeals Court yesterday handed down a life sentence to a member of the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo), a separatist movement, reversing the Criminal Court's earlier decision to drop all charges against him.

Prosecutors indicted Koseng Cheloh, also called Useng, on charges of rebellion and illegal assembly of weapons and men to conduct terrorist activities with the aim of separating five southern border provinces from the Kingdom.
The court was told that between 1968 and Feb 10, 1998, Mr Koseng and other Pulo members recruited Muslims into the separatist movement, extorted protection money from businessmen in the five southern border provinces and used the money to set up armed units to conduct terrorist activities.
Prosecutors said these activities included attacks on government installations, destroying rail tracks with bombs and burning down bridges and schools, resulting in extensive damage and a large number of casualties.
The court was also told that in 1998, Mr Koseng was named by Hayee Dao, who was arrested on suspicion of being a head of the new Pulo, as the leader of a sub-group of Pulo operating in cities.
Mr Koseng was arrested on Dec 7, 2005, on a murder charge and was then identified as a man called Zakarim, which he insisted was not his name.
However, police investigators testified they later learned the name Zakarim was a pseudonym of the Pulo sub-group allegedly controlled by Mr Koseng.
Authorities also obtained a picture of Mr Koseng's ID card in a raid in the far South.
The search turned up more evidence suggesting that he and another suspect, Manaze Jeloh, had a role in terrorist-style weapons training.
Mr Koseng failed to prove his claim that he had lived in Malaysia for 10 years and spent some years studying in Syria and Libya, the Appeals Court said.
The Criminal Court dismissed the case against Mr Koseng on Dec 1, 2008, on the grounds that evidence against him was doubtful.
The state chose to appeal, and the Appeals Court yesterday sentenced Mr Koseng to death. The sentence was commuted to a life sentence on the grounds that his testimony was useful.

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