Kuala Lumpur: The two Malaysian terror suspects, currently incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp in Cuba since 2006, are reportedly expected to plead guilty to terrorism charges, according to court documents.
Washington-based Benar News reported that court documents identified the first suspect as Mohammed Farik Amin who is prepared to plead guilty during a court hearing on Monday at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.
The report, published yesterday, pointed towards the possibility that Mohammed Farik’s guilty plea would enable his return to Malaysia and could be discussed during hearings next week.
Mohammed Farik and another Malaysian Mohammed Nazir Lep have been imprisoned by the United States military in the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp after being charged with their role in the 2002 and 2003 deadly bombings in Indonesia.
“The commission will call for the accused to enter pleas consistent with the terms of the offer for pretrial agreement. The Commission will conduct an inquiry into the providence of the accused’s plea.
“The Commission will also inquire into the terms and conditions of the PTA (pretrial agreement) to ensure there is an agreement between the convening authority and the accused and a shared understanding of the meaning and effect of the terms of the PTA,” said the court documents that were sighted by Benar News in the report.
Mohammed Farik and Mohammed Nazir have been charged alongside Indonesian terror suspect Encep Nurjaman, who is better known by his nom de guerre Hambali, with conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, terrorism, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, and destruction of property linked to the deadly bombings in Bali and Jakarta in 2002 and 2003 — Indonesia’s worst-ever terrorist attack.
The three are said to be linked with the notorious Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) which had ties to al-Qaeda.
The report stated that a subsequent document added Mohammed Nazir as the second defendant, with the US Office of Military Commissions spokesman Ron Flesvig confirming the matter.
“It has since been amended to include Mohammed Nazir Lep,” he was quoted as saying.
However, Flesvig could not confirm if any plea deal would occur during the court hearings on Monday.
Malay Mail is seeking further comments and confirmation from the Home Ministry and its minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
Both Malaysian terror suspects were reported to have been recruited by Encep to serve as intermediaries in the transfer of money used to fund JI.
JI has been held responsible for the suicide bombings in Bali which killed 202 people in 2002, and Jakarta’s JW Marriot Hotel in August 2003 which killed 11 and wounded more than 80.
All three were captured in Thailand in 2003 and transferred to CIA “black sites,” where they were brutalised and subjected to torture, according to a Senate Intelligence Committee report released in 2014.
They have been detained in a military prison in the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp for the past 17 years.
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