Sulu sultanate members have privilege to stay in Sabah, court told

A member of the so-called Sulu sultanate told the Kota Kinabalu High Court today that he had "privilege" to stay in Sabah. Datu Amir Bahar Hushin Kiram, 53, an accused in the Lahad Datu intrusion case, said the "privilege" was based on what he claimed was his family's proprietorial rights over the state. "That (overstaying in Sabah) does not mean I am staying in Sabah illegally," he testified in English from the witness dock. He was responding to a suggestion by deputy public prosecutor Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar that he had violated Malaysian law by overstaying in Semporna after his Philippine passport had expired on February 12, 2013. Amir entered his defence on two charges of waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and being a member of a terrorist group during an intrusion into Lahad Datu in 2013. – Bernama, March 3, 2016.]]>