KUALA LUMPUR: Twenty years after being detained in the United States (US) run Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, two Malaysian terror suspects have yet to see trial.
A defence lawyer for one of them, Brian Bouffard is frustrated and blamed the US government for causing an endless delay to the terror duo's trial.
In the latest move, US-based Bouffard, representing Mohammed Nazir Lep said they filed a motion last week asking the US Military Commission at Guantanamo to set a date for a jury trial in December as earlier suggested by the US government.
"We filed the motion this week asking the commission (to set a date) but surprisingly, the government is opposing it, even though they are the ones who originally suggested it," Bouffard said in an email to FMT.
Nazir, fellow Malaysian Mohamad Farik Amin, and Indonesian Riduan Isamuddin @ Encep Nurjaman have been detained at the notorious Guantanamo prison for about 20 years.
They face eight joint charges, including seven related to the twin bombings that killed 202 people in Bali in October 2002 and a bombing at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in August 2003.
They were nabbed in Thailand in 2003 and sent to secret CIA-operated black sites before being moved to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
The three were first charged in August 2021 but the trial could not continue because the US government could not provide qualified Malay and Indonesian translators.
Bouffard said Nazir had been pushing for a quick trial after being held for 20 years in solitary confinement but the US government was not helping on the matter.
"Nazir wants his trial and we are sick and tired, and frustrated by the endless government delay and lack of accountability or consequences for that delay. He has been held without trial for 20 years and was tortured, all of which is a stain on our national honour.
"The military commissions and the history at Guantanamo are an affront to the rule of law and to the values our country claims to cherish. Most American citizens are good people who understand this.
"It's been a long time since our government started living up to our values," he said.
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