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Bali bombing suspects formally charged after ‘flawed’ two-day arraignment in Guantanamo Bay

  • The three men – an Indonesian and two Malaysians – appeared on Tuesday in a secure courthouse encircled by razor wire on the US base in Cuba
  • Defence lawyers complained about biased and unskilled interpreters, insisting afterwards that arraignment was so flawed it may have to be repeated

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Police inspect the ruins of a nightclub destroyed by the bombings in Denpasar, Indonesia’s Bali, in 2002. Photo: AP
Associated Pressin Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Three men held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre have been formally charged in connection with the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and other plots in Southeast Asia after 18 years in US custody, with defence lawyers insisting afterwards that the long-delayed arraignment was so flawed it may have to be repeated.
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The men appeared on Tuesday in a secure courthouse encircled by razor wire on the US base in Cuba amid defence complaints about courtroom interpreters that caused what was supposed to be a brief arraignment before a military judge into a two-day affair.

It was a rocky start to a case already expected to be complex because of the prolonged detention without charges for the three – an Indonesian and two Malaysians – and the brutal treatment they endured in CIA custody.

Encep Nurjaman, the Indonesian militant leader also known as Riduan Isamuddin and Hambali. Photo: Malaysia Police Department Handout via EPA
Encep Nurjaman, the Indonesian militant leader also known as Riduan Isamuddin and Hambali. Photo: Malaysia Police Department Handout via EPA

Encep Nurjaman, the Indonesian militant leader also known as Riduan Isamuddin and Hambali, and the two Malaysians face trial by military commission, which combines elements of civilian and military law, on charges that include murder, terrorism and conspiracy. They have not yet entered pleas.

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The start of their long-delayed case comes as other war crimes tribunals at Guantanamo have languished without resolution for years amid legal challenges and as US President Joe Biden says he intends to close the detention centre, which now holds 39 of the 779 men who were brought to the base following the September 11 attacks.
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