A Guantanamo Bay detainee is expected to appear in military court in connection with the blasts near Indonesia

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

18 years after his capture in Thailand, the former leader of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiyah will stand trial for war crimes.

 

An Indonesian man incarcerated at a US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is set to stand trial on Monday, 18 years after his detention in connection with a series of "terror strikes" in Indonesia in the early 2000s, including the devastating nightclub and hotel bombings.

Encep Nurjaman, also known as Hambali and Riduan bin Isomudin, will stand trial before a military commission for war crimes, including murder, "terrorism," and conspiracy.

 

Along with him, two Malaysian males accused of being accomplices will stand trial.
Mohammed Nazir bin Lep and Mohammed Farik bin Amin are their names.

Some of the charges against the three individuals are related to the Bali nightclub explosions in 2002 and the Jakarta Marriott Hotel attack in 2003.

The blasts killed at least 213 people and injured 109 others.

The attacks were claimed by the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), of which Hambali was the commander.

 

Hambali, dubbed "one of the world's most dangerous terrorists" by former US President George W Bush, was apprehended in northern Thailand in 2003 following a joint operation by American and Thai forces.
Aside from being accused of masterminding the Indonesian bombings, the JI chief was also accused of being involved in a succession of foiled attacks in Singapore, Australia, and the Phillippines, as well as having close ties to al-late Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden.

 

Hambali was imprisoned at a secret detention camp administered by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for three years after his capture, where he was tortured as part of the so-called "enhanced interrogation" programme.

Lawyers for the 57-year-old claim he was stripped naked, denied food and sleep, and forced to sit and stand in stressful positions for lengthy periods of time.
They claim he was also subjected to a technique known as "walling," in which interrogators smashed his head against a wall while wearing a collar around his neck.

 

After Hambali was moved to the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp in 2006, the mistreatment allegedly continued.

Since then, he has been jailed without charge or trial.