A Philippine court has found key members of a powerful political clan guilty of a 2009 massacre that drew international outrage and was one of the world's single biggest attacks on journalists.

Key points: Members of the Ampatuan family were sentenced to life imprisonment on multiple counts of murder

Members of the Ampatuan family were sentenced to life imprisonment on multiple counts of murder Andal Ampatuan was accused of leading 200 armed followers to murder

Andal Ampatuan was accused of leading 200 armed followers to murder The court ordered they pay compensation to the families of the victims

On November 23, 2009, 58 people — including 32 journalists and other media workers — were killed in the southern province of Maguindanao when a convoy came under attack by more than 100 armed men, including members of the police and the military.

The regional trial court led by Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes sentenced them to the maximum punishment allowed by law and ordered them to compensate the families of the victims.

On Thursday, eight members of the influential Ampatuan family were among 28 people sentenced to life imprisonment on multiple counts of murder, in a complicated verdict involving 101 defendants.

A further 15 defendants were jailed for accessory to murder and 56 were acquitted.

The regional trial court led by Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes sentenced them to the maximum punishment allowed by law and ordered them to compensate the families of the victims.

Some members of the Ampatuan family and police officers were acquitted for a lack of evidence.

The judge and lawyers decided to read only the last part of the verdict, agreeing that the 700-page decision could take an entire day.

Applause followed the verdict in a packed and heavily secured courtroom, where some relatives of the victims and their lawyers were present.

"If I have the power to kill them all in a blink of an eye, I would have done it. But I realised in the end that I'm not a demon like them," said Mary Grace Morales, whose daughter and a handful of close relatives were among the slain.

Women celebrate after hearing their relatives were acquitted following the verdict at a court. ( AP )

Among the main suspects convicted was Andal Ampatuan, who was accused of leading the mass murder.

Then a town mayor, Ampatuan allegedly led nearly 200 armed followers who blocked a seven-vehicle convoy carrying the wife, sisters and other relatives and lawyers of Esmael Mangudadatu, a politician who decided to run for governor of Maguindanao province.

The gunmen commandeered the convoy, including the passengers of two unsuspecting cars that got stuck in the traffic, to a nearby hilltop, where a waiting backhoe had dug huge pits to be used in burying the victims and their vehicles.

Ampatuan and his followers allegedly opened fire on the victims at close range and hurriedly escaped after sensing that army troops were approaching.

Police guard the shallow grave containing victims of the politically-motivated massacre in November 2009. ( Erik de Castro : Reuters )

The badly mutilated bodies were found inside the vans, sprawled on the ground or buried in the pits with some of the vehicles, in a gruesome scene that drew international outrage and shocked many even in a country long used to political violence.

Ampatuan, his father and other siblings and relatives were placed under arrest after negotiations with officials of then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The family patriarch allegedly approved the plot over family dinner, according to the testimony of one witness.

The Ampatuans have denied the allegations and are expected to appeal.

A delayed but critical step for justice

The massacre was said to be one of the world's single biggest attacks on journalists and had been the most anticipated verdict in the Philippines given the notoriety of the Ampatuan family.

The Ampatuan family is known to be a dynasty in Maguindanao.

The case was closely watched as a test of whether democratic institutions in the Philippines could withstand pressure from money and powerful interests.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch this week said that regardless of the verdict, the dozens of suspects at large must be arrested to ensure the safety of witnesses and victims' families.

Amnesty International regional director Nicholas Bequelin celebrated the verdict, saying it was a critical step towards justice for victims of one of the worst killings of journalists in history.

"After 10 years and a judicial process stalled under three presidents, this decision has been long in the making. A decade is too long for the families of the bereaved, as justice delayed is justice denied," he said.

Reuters/ABC

