Two Malaysians who pleaded guilty for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings have been repatriated from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. and Malaysian governments announced yesterday.
Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, who spent 18 years at the notorious penal facility in Cuba, were turned over to Malaysian authorities, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement yesterday.
“The unity government has received from the United States government the two Malaysian nationals, Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, who were in prison since 2006 at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp on the principle of human rights and support for universal justice,” the ministry said in its statement, according to BenarNews. The U.S. Department of Defense has also confirmed the return of the two men.
Farik and Nazir, who acted as money couriers after the 2002 bombings to support the terrorists involved in the attacks, had been in American custody since their arrest in Thailand in 2003. After several years of being held in the galaxy of “black sites” run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, they were transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
In January, a military jury sentenced them to 23 years in confinement, not counting time served, after they pleaded guilty to charges of murder, conspiracy, accessory after the fact, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, and destruction of property, for their roles in the deadly bombing in Bali. The bombing, which killed 202 people including seven U.S. nationals, was the deadliest terrorist attack in Indonesian history.
But Farik and Nazir had their sentences reduced to about five years each, after they agreed to give evidence against Hambali, the alleged mastermind of the Bali bombings. At the time, it was recommended the men be repatriated or transferred to another country to serve the remainder of their sentences. According to BenarNews, “their repatriation this week was made in secret and information was released to their lawyers at the last minute.”
Exactly what role the two men played in the Bali bombings remains unclear. Despite pleading guilty to the charges laid by the U.S. military court, they both deny having had any hand in the actual attacks. As Aisyah Llewellyn wrote in these pages at the time of their sentencing in January, the two men only admitted that they became involved with the bomb plotters after the attack, “helping to hide some of the perpetrators and moving around funds to be used for other attacks.” Nazir’s lawyer has referred to his client as a “gofer.”
Despite this uncertainty, the release of the two men prompted angry reactions in Australia, which lost 88 of its nationals in the Bali bombings. The Australian government has expressed hopes that the Malaysian authorities will closely monitor the two men. A spokesperson for Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told ABC News that the government had “conveyed to the U.S. and Malaysia our close interest in this matter on numerous occasions.”
“We recognize that this news will be distressing for the survivors and families of victims of terrorist attacks, especially the 2002 Bali bombings,” the spokesperson said. “While the arrangements for the transfer are a matter for the Malaysian and U.S. governments, we have sought assurances from the Malaysian Government that the individuals will be subject to ongoing supervision and monitoring.”
In his statement, Malaysia’s Home Affairs Minister said that the government has created a “comprehensive reintegration program specifically for the two individuals concerned, including support services, welfare, and health screening.”