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This Week in AsiaPolitics

Bali bombing suspect’s day in court brings new headache for US as it tries to put Guantanamo in the past

  • The case of Hambali, who is also accused of the Marriott hotel bombing, has put a US military court in a no-win situation, expert says
  • Proceeding to a full trial risks embarrassing the US as evidence against him would be compromised by claims of torture at Guantanamo Bay

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Buildings and cars burn after a bomb blast in the tourist site of Kuta, Bali, in October 2002. Photo: AFP
Amy Chew
Nearly two decades after allegedly masterminding the 2002 bombing of a Bali nightclub that killed 202 people, the terror suspect known as the “Osama bin Laden of Southeast Asia” remains a thorn in the side of both the United States and Indonesia.
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Riduan Isamuddin, better known by his nom de guerre Hambali, has been held at Guantanamo Bay since 2006 after his capture in Ayutthaya during a joint US-Thai operation. On August 30 he expects to finally get his day in court, when he and two of his associates face a formal arraignment in front of a US military commission.

But experts warn that, rather than end the ambiguity over his fate, court proceedings may exacerbate the problems facing both countries as they decide what to do with a man accused of being a former kingpin of Jemaah Islamiah, the Southeast Asian branch of al-Qaeda, and whom security sources say remains an inspiring figure for regional extremists.

Experts say a full trial would be risky and embarrassing for the US, as much of the evidence against him is likely to have been made under duress. While the military court may attempt to avoid a full trial by seeking a plea deal in which he agrees to return to Indonesia, analysts said this could also prove problematic as Indonesia may refuse to take him given his continuing influence.

In addition to the Bali bombing, which killed 11 Hong Kong residents among its scores of victims, Hambali is alleged to have been behind the 2003 attack at Jakarta’s JW Marriott hotel that killed 11.

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Professor Zachary Abuza, of the National War College of Washington, said a full trial was likely to be “very bad for the US government”.

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