Malaysia’s highest court yesterday sentenced to death a member of the Al-Ma’unah movement for planning a ‘holy war’ to topple Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The court handed down the decision after hearing appeals from 19 members of the sect. Three had already been sentenced to death and the others had been given life imprisonment. The prosecution had lodged a cross-appeal for increased sentences on all 16 who escaped the death penalty, but the judges changed only the sentence on 32-year-old mechanic Jemari Jusoh, who shot dead a soldier. The martial arts sect, which taught members they were invulnerable to bullets, sparked one of the country’s biggest-ever security alerts in July 2000 when they disguised themselves as soldiers and stole more than 100 weapons from two armouries. From a jungle hideout, they broadcast calls over army radio for Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir to quit. Full Story