Update on two new Gitmo detainees reported on here from THE INDEPENDENT with this article headline (2 days ago):
“Guantanamo panel recommends 23-year sentences for two in connection
with 2002 Bali bombing attacks”
A military panel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has
recommended 23 years in detention for two Malaysian men in connection with a
deadly 2002 bombings in Bali
A military panel at Gitmo Bay, Cuba has recommended 23 years in detention for two men from Malaysia in connection with deadly 2002 bombings in Bali, a spokesman said.
The recommendation, following guilty pleas earlier this
month under plea bargains for longtime Guantanamo detainees Mohammed Farik Bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep, marks
comparatively rare convictions in the two decades of proceedings by the U.S.
military commission at Guantanamo.
Guantanamo military commission spokesman Ronald Flesvig
confirmed the sentencing recommendations concerning the extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah whose two bombing killed 202 Indonesians, foreign tourists, and
others in the two simultaneous bombings at nightspots on the resort island of
Bali.
The two defendants denied any role or advance knowledge of the attacks but under the plea bargains admitted they had over the years conspired with the network of militants responsible.
The sentence recommendation still requires approval by the senior
military authority over Guantanamo.
The two are among a total of 780 detainees brought to military detention at Guantanamo under former President George W. Bush's administration's “war on terror” following the 9/11 attacks in the U.S.
There
have been only a handful of convictions over all those the years since: Eight, according to
one advocacy group named: Reprieve.
Defendants in some of the biggest attacks, including 9/11, remain in pretrial hearings.
Prosecutors are
seeking negotiated agreements to close that case and some others. The
prosecutions have been plagued by logistical difficulties, frequent turnover of
judges and others, and legal questions surrounding the torture of detainees
during CIA custody in the first years of their detention.
Only about 30 detainees remain at Guantanamo.
About half have been cleared and are eligible for transfer
out if a stable country agrees to take them.
As part of their plea bargains, the two Malaysian men have
agreed to provide testimony against a third Guantanamo detainee, an Indonesian
man known as Hambali, who took part in the bombings.
Relatives of some of those killed in the Bali bombings
testified in the courtroom listening attentively.
Matthew Arnold of
Birmingham, England, who lost his brother in the attacks testified: “The
reach of this atrocity knew no bounds, and has affected very many people.”
A panel of five military officers delivered the
recommendation after listening to the sentencing testimony.
My 2 Cents: More updates on
this story and other detainee updates from GITMO will be provided when they are made
available.
Thanks for stopping by.
No comments:
Post a Comment