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Malaysians in Guantanamo Bay set to give evidence against Hambali after pleading guilty to role in Bali bombing

  • Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep pleaded guilty to being accessories in the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people
  • The move is part of a plea deal expected to return them to Malaysia in exchange for evidence against Indonesian national Hambali, the alleged mastermind

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The two Malaysians in Guantanamo Bay are expected to be sentenced next week. File photo: AP
Aisyah Llewellyn
Two Malaysian nationals incarcerated at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba have pleaded guilty to their roles in the 2002 Bali bombing in Indonesia, as part of a plea deal that is expected to see them returned to their home country.
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Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep on Tuesday appeared at the military court in Guantanamo Bay and pleaded guilty to murder, conspiracy, accessory after the fact, intentionally causing serious bodily injury and destruction of property in relation to the bombing in Bali, which killed 202 people, including seven Americans, in October 2002.

The pair pleaded not guilty to charges related to the 2003 bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.

Investigators inspect the ruins of a nightclub destroyed by a bombing in Bali on October 13, 2002. Photo: AP
Investigators inspect the ruins of a nightclub destroyed by a bombing in Bali on October 13, 2002. Photo: AP
The two men were arrested in Thailand in 2003 along with Indonesian national Encep Nurjaman, the alleged mastermind also known as Hambali, and moved to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.

According to a 2014 US Senate Intelligence Committee report, all three men were held and tortured at CIA black sites or clandestine prisons from 2003 to 2006 to extract confessions about their roles in the Bali bombing.

The Indonesian hardline Islamist group, Jemaah Islamiah, claimed responsibility for the attack and three men – Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Ali Ghufron – were executed in 2008 for organising the terror plot.

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A fourth man, Ali Imron, received a life sentence for his role in the bombing and remains in prison in Jakarta.

People visit a memorial site for Bali bombing victims to mark the 20th anniversary of the attack on October 12, 2022. Photo: AFP
People visit a memorial site for Bali bombing victims to mark the 20th anniversary of the attack on October 12, 2022. Photo: AFP
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