Three prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center had their first day in court Monday after being held by the U.S. for 18 years in connection with the deadly 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and other plots in Southeast Asia.
Encep Nurjaman (also known as Hambali), an Indonesian prisoner, and two Malaysians began their arraignment at a hearing held at the U.S. military base in Cuba. The hearing was repeatedly stalled due to issues with courtroom interpreters. They are facing charges of murder, conspiracy, and terrorism. This is just the beginning of a lengthy legal journey that could involve evidence tainted with CIA torture. Other war crimes cases have languished for years at Guantanamo.
The hearing also comes as the Biden administration says it intends to close the detention center, where the U.S. still holds 39 of the 779 men seized in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and invasion of Afghanistan.
Three men were charged with nightclub bombings. They were kept secretly in CIA custody for three years. Then, they were transferred to a U.S. base in Cuba where they spent 15 more years.
Brian Bouffard, a lawyer representing Mohammed Nazir bin Lep (one of the Malaysians), said that it was almost twenty years later and that witnesses have died. It’s fatal for the ability to have fair trials, in my opinion.
Bouffard stated that the Pentagon legal representative who made the decision to indict them at the end Trump’s administration also complicated the efforts to close the detention facility. It makes it harder for the new administration add any of these men to the list of people who could be sent home or transferred to Guantanamo. He said that it would be even more difficult after an arraignment.
Lawyers for the Malaysians questioned the competency of the courtroom interpreter. He seemed to speak slow in English and Malay, making the arraignment a rocky one. The prosecutors also revealed that a second interpreter had worked previously with the men to assist them in their appearance before the parole board at the detention centre.
Christine Funk, a lawyer representing Mohammed Farik bin Amin, stated that “he has confidential information that may be sharing with prosecution right now.”
Nurjaman was the leader of Jemaah Islamiyah in Southeast Asia, which is a militant group that has ties to al-Qaida. According to the U.S. government, he recruited militants such as bin Lep or bin Amin for jihadist operations.
Al-Qaida’s and Jemaah Islamiyah were behind the suicide bombings at Paddy’s Pub in Bali and the Sari Club, both in October 2002, as well as the August 2003 attack on the J.W. In Jakarta, Indonesia, Marriott. Together, the attacks resulted in 213 deaths, seven Americans being among them, and 109 injuries, six of which were Americans. Many of the victims were mostly Australian tourists.
Prosecutors claim that bin Lep, and bin Amin were intermediaries in the transfer money used to finance the operations of the group.
According to a Senate Intelligence Committee Report released in 2014, all three were taken into custody in Thailand in 2003. They were then transferred to CIA “black spots” where they were tortured and brutalized. They were transferred to Guantanamo in 2006.
It is unclear why the men have taken so long before being charged by the military commission. The men were charged by military prosecutors in June 2017. However, the Pentagon legal officer who handles Guantanamo cases denied the charges.
Complex elements make this case difficult, such as whether the statements made by the men to authorities in relation to abuse suffered in CIA custody and the fact that they were convicted and executed in Indonesia for the attack and the lengthy time it took to bring them to trial.
These same issues are being raised in the case against five Guantanamo prisoners charged with planning and aiding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. They were arraigned on May 12, 2012, and are currently in the pretrial phase. No trial date has been set.
Funk foresaw a long period of defense investigation. This will include extensive travel to interview witnesses and search for evidence. Funk said that her client was “anxious” and eager to resolve the case and return home.
