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Bali bombing suspects from Indonesia, Malaysia to go on trial in Guantanamo Bay
- Indonesian Riduan Isamuddin or Encep Nurjaman, better known by his nom de guerre Hambali, has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2006
- His arraignment, alongside Malaysians Mohammed Nazir bin Lep and Mohammed Farik bin Amin, is merely the first step in what could be a long legal journey
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Two Malaysians and an Indonesian linked to deadly bombings in Bali nearly two decades ago are expected to get their first day in court on Monday at the United States Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
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Indonesian Encep Nurjaman, also known as Riduan Isamuddin and better known by his nom de guerre Hambali, and Malaysians Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, 45, and Mohammed Farik bin Amin, 46, were to be arraigned on Monday before a military commission on charges that include murder, conspiracy and terrorism.
It is merely the first step in what could be a long legal journey for a case that involves evidence tainted by CIA torture, the same issue that is largely responsible for causing other war crimes cases to languish for years at Guantanamo.
The hearing also comes as the administration of US President Joe Biden says it intends to close the detention centre, where the US still holds 39 of the 779 men seized in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 and subsequent invasion of Afghanistan.
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According to the US Office of Military Commissions, the three had been set to be arraigned before a military court at the naval base in February, but this was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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