Unlikely for Kadafi Muktadil to walk free, says Pinoy ambassador

PETALING JAYA - It is unlikely that cross-border kidnap gang leader Kadafi Muktadil will be freed from jail anytime soon, said the Philippines Embassy.

"Kadafi Muktadil is not only being sought to account for the kidnap and murder of Mr Bernard Then Ted Fen, but also for other kidnappings he and his cohorts perpetrated in Mindanao," said J. Eduardo Malaya who is the Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia in a statement on Thursday.

The embassy was responding to a report in The Star today, titled "Gang leader may walk free".

The report indicated that the original Malaysian arrest warrant, which was issued by a magistrate's court in Sandakan, is needed to keep Kadafi in Philippines jail.

J. Eduardo Malaya

Kadafi's lawyers have applied to the Philippines court for his release because the arrest warrant submitted by the prosecutors was merely a photostat copy.

However, Malaya pointed out that criminal charges have also been filed against Kadafi for the kidnapping and illegal detention of Philippines Coast Guard personnel SN1 Rod Allain Pagaling and others in May 2015 in Pagadian City.

"Early receipt of authenticated copies of the arrest warrant and related papers, which were earlier requested by the Philippines side, will be helpful, but there are currently ample legal justifications for the Philippines' judicial system to keep him confined in jail," he said.

He added that the enhanced working partnership between the Philippines and Malaysian authorities is mutually beneficial, as demonstrated by this case and others.

• Gang leader may walk free