Defence frets over US visa delay for M’sian witnesses in Guantanamo case

Nazir Lep (left) and Farik Amin have been in solitary confinement at Guantanamo since their arrest by US authorities in 2003 for their alleged role in the Bali bombing in October 2002

PETALING JAYA: The defence team in the trial of the two Malaysians accused of terrorism at Guantanamo, Cuba  have expressed frustration over the US government’s delay in issuing visas for two witnesses from Malaysia.

According to the case notes sighted by FMT, the two witnesses are relatives of Farik Amin, who together with Nazir Lep had pleaded guilty to their role in the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people.

The witnesses are scheduled to testify for the duo before they are sentenced.

Farik’s lawyer Christine Funk said her team was disappointed that the visas have not been issued yet despite having started the process in October last year, with the necessary documents of the witnesses submitted in early December.

“I’m sure you can imagine how frustrated and disappointed we are. We have been working very hard to provide what is needed to the US government.

“We’ve been in communication with both witnesses, the Malaysian embassy in the US, and the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

“Our most recent e-mail from the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur indicated that they were under the impression the witnesses need to be here on Jan 25, which is false,” she told presiding Judge Wesley A Braun of the US Air Force who asked for the progress on the visa applications as the court is into the mitigation and sentencing phase.

The judge had said the testimony of the two witnesses were part of the pre-trial agreement between the US government and the accused during sentencing and mitigation.

Funk said one could not simply fly into Guantanamo on any given day as there was a very limited schedule, adding that they were informed the witnesses needed to be on a plane by Jan 18 (from Kuala Lumpur) in order to be on time for the sentencing.

“This did not happen. Our next best hope is the rotator (military flight) next Tuesday (Jan 23). So, we are continuing to communicate with our witnesses, and we are continuing to attempt to impress upon the US embassy the urgency of processing the visas.

“They met (US embassy officials in Kuala Lumpur) to get their visas on Jan 12. We continue to be hopeful, as well as frustrated,” she told the court.

Responding to the judge, prosecutor George Kraehe told the court that they were making arrangements for a number of alternative courses of action should the witnesses not be able to obtain their visas in time.

“There have been ongoing discussions, but we’re still doing everything we can to exhaust the visa option. We’ll await word from the defence as to whether they’re going to pursue the alternatives,” he said.

The court also revealed that the duo has signed a pre-trial agreement with the US government that has a clause which says the sentences will range from 20-25 years’ imprisonment and that the jail term may start from the day they pleaded guilty.

Meanwhile, Nazir’s counsel Brian Bouffard, said his client is in good spirits and happy to have this portion of the case successfully behind him.

“We are now turning to the sentencing portion of the hearing, which will occur next week. He feels a great sense of peace in accepting responsibility for the things he was responsible for,” he told FMT.

On Tuesday, Nazir, 46, and Farik, 48, pleaded guilty to conspiring in the October 2002 bomb attacks in Bali after 20 years of solitary confinement without trial in Guantanamo Bay.

They were first charged in 2018 together with Indonesian Encep Nurjaman, who is also known as Hambali, and alleged to be the mastermind.

They were charged with nine offences linked to the 2002 bombings of nightclubs in Bali, which killed 202 people, and the 2003 Marriott hotel bombing in Jakarta which led to 11 deaths.

However, their guilty pleas made no mention of any link to the 2003 bombing in Jakarta.