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Bali Bombers May Return to Malaysia After Sentencing
The two prisoners have admitted to conspiring with an affiliate of Al Qaeda that carried out a deadly bombing in Indonesia two decades ago.
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Mohammed Farik Bin Amin, left, and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep spent years in secret C.I.A. prisons after their capture in 2003.
By Carol Rosenberg
Reporting from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba
Jan. 22, 2024
When a jury of military officers is assembled this week at Guantánamo Bay, it will be asked to choose a sentence in the 20- to 25-year range for two Malaysian prisoners who admitted to conspiring with an affiliate of Al Qaeda that carried out a deadly bombing in Indonesia two decades ago.
But behind the scenes, through a secret agreement that was negotiated with a senior Trump-era official, the men could be returned to Malaysia before the end of the year.
The sentencing proceedings for Mohammed Farik Bin Amin, 48, and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep, 47, are part of a U.S. government strategy of trying to resolve Guantánamo’s national security cases through plea negotiations. The men spent years in secret C.I.A. prisons following their capture in 2003. In reaching the agreement, prosecutors averted lengthy litigation over torture that has stymied two capital cases, one for the Sept. 11 attacks and the the other for the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.
The two men were captured along with a onetime member of the Qaeda affiliate, an Indonesian known as Hambali.
Last week they pleaded guilty to conspiring in a pair of suicide bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people on Oct. 12, 2002. As part of the plea agreement, they were questioned by prosecutors on Sunday and Monday, potentially for use in the trial of Mr. Hambali, which prosecutors want to hold next year.
The Secretive World of Guantánamo Bay A Look Inside: Our correspondent explores the only place at Guantánamo Bay's war court where photography is allowed — and explains what you can and cannot see. The Docket: Since 2002, roughly 780 detainees have been held at the American military prison in Cuba. Now, a few dozen remain, and it costs $13 million a year per prisoner to keep them there. Landmark Cases: Three former Guantánamo prisoners who won Supreme Court cases that have shaped the military’s ability to detain men at the prison are today ensconced in family life. We caught up with two of them. Photos: After 20 years of secrecy, The Times obtained secret Pentagon photos of the first prisoners brought to Guantánamo Bay.
The testimony is secret for now. But in their plea they said they had no firsthand knowledge that Mr. Hambali was responsible for the attack. They said they learned afterward from news reports on the internet that Mr. Hambali was wanted for a string of attacks carried out by the Jemaah Islamiyah movement and that they helped him elude capture.
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Carol Rosenberg reports on the wartime prison and court at Guantánamo Bay. She has been covering the topic since the first detainees were brought to the U.S. base in 2002. More about Carol Rosenberg
A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 23, 2024, Section A, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Bali Bombers May Return to Malaysia in Plea Deal After Sentencing at Guantánamo Bay . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
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