KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Two Malaysian suspects linked to the 2002 Bali bombings are reportedly undergoing legal proceedings that would allow them to return home from detention in the United States’ Guantanamo Bay military prison.
Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that the duo are attempting plea deals to separate their cases from the bombings, and the Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had also visited them in Cuba recently.
“It has been reported, and my understanding is that the Malaysian delegation was at Guantanamo. My understanding is that both co-accused may have entered into plea deals to sever their cases from Hambali,” lawyer James Hodes said as quoted by SCMP.
Hodes is the lawyer of Indonesian national Encep Nurjaman — also known as Hambali — who was also charged in 2021 alongside the Malaysian suspects, Mohammed Farik Amin and Mohammed Nazir Lep.
“These guys should have gone home years ago, as should my client,” he reportedly said.
This comes as Saifuddin wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post on September 25 that he had discussed the cases of the duo with Tina Kaidanow, the US Special Representative for Guantanamo Affairs, while he was in New York on a recent trip by a Malaysian delegation led by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Saifuddin also said that he travelled to Cuba to meet the duo in person. He wrote their story “really touched” him, and Putrajaya will attempt to expedite the process for their return to Malaysia.
Malay Mail is seeking the Home Ministry and Saifuddin’s comments on this matter.
SCMP reported that at the end of August, Farik’s lawyer had filed court documents to split his case from his two fellow accused. It also cited a confidential source close to Nazir’s case shared that Farik’s plea deal is “pretty far down the line”.
“We’ve got to end Guantanamo at some point, so I understand the impulse to try and resolve some of these cases. However, any plea deal was not a guarantee of release from Guantanamo,” the source reportedly said.
“There are often sticking points around assurances such as whether this is actually a way of solving the case. Even in ordinary circumstances, a plea deal involves an intricate set of negotiations. Guantanamo is even more difficult. Lots of people have [to give their] input and this creates opportunities for difficulties and confusion,” the source added.
The devastating Bali Bombings, which killed 202 and left over 200 others injured, happened 21 years ago yesterday. The three suspects were then apprehended in 2003 in Thailand, and had in 2006 moved to Guantanamo Bay.
