Bali bombing: families slam ‘secret deal’ as sentences of Malaysians at Guantanamo Bay cut to 5 years
- A side deal and delay in handing over evidence meant Malaysians Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep now only have to serve five years in jail, instead of 23
- Victims’ families say they are shocked to find out about the drastic reductions, call the trial at Guantanamo Bay a ‘bizarre stunt’
Families and friends of those who died in a deadly bomb attack in Bali in Indonesia that killed 202 people and injured another 200 have expressed shock and anger after two Malaysians incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for their roles in the attack had their jail sentences cut from 23 years to five.
The reduced jail time of six years handed to Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep stemmed from a “secret plea deal” made during the summer by the convening authority for military commissions at Guantanamo, and the sentence was slashed further to five years by the presiding judge because the prosecutor took too long to hand over evidence in the case.
Farik and Nazir had pleaded guilty to murder, conspiracy, accessory after the fact, and intentionally causing serious bodily injury as part of the plea deal. They also agreed to give evidence against a third man implicated in the attack, Indonesian national Encep Nurjaman alias Hambali, who is also incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay.
Families and friends of those who died in the attack, when a one-tonne bomb was detonated outside the Sari Club in Kuta in Bali and another detonated by a suicide bomber at the neighbouring Paddy’s Pub, said they had been shocked to find out about the plea deal and the drastic reductions in the sentences.
Australian national Jan Laczynski, who flew out of Bali the night of the bombing and whose five Indonesian friends – Wayan Tamba, Rudy Armansyah, Ketut Sumarawat, Made Mertana and Kadek Sukerna – were killed at the Sari Club, said he felt the sentences were a hollow form of justice.
“The whole justice system in America failed everyone. Even some of the survivors I spoke to were confused about this military trial, mainly because of the secrecy,” Laczynski said.
“I respect that justice is different in all countries. However, what a contrasting experience. In Indonesia in 2003 for the trial of [Bali bombing masterminds] Amrozi, Muklas, Ali Imron and Imaa Samudra, all the trials were open to the public with media broadcasting live. Even myself, everything we did or said was there for everyone to see.”
