Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Southeast Asia

Jakarta accepting that key Bali bombing suspect is Indonesian marks a reversal

2025-01-28

[BenarNews] Southeast Asian nation is considering seeking repatriation of Hambali – detained at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay since 2006 – whose case remains resolved.

Indonesia’s new government is considering seeking a key Bali bombing suspect’s return from Guantanamo Bay because, its law minister said, Jakarta is as concerned about its citizens imprisoned abroad as it is in repatriating some foreign convicts.

Jakarta’s acknowledgement that Hambali

...real name Riduan Isamuddin, close personal friend of Osama bin Laden, one of the founders of Jemaah Islamiyah and the planner of the 2002 Bali bombings. He was captured with the help of a mid-Eastern intel service, shipped to Guantanamo to rot but he'll likely be released eventually because that was a long time ago and we were all so much younger then...
, the suspect in jug at the U.S. military base in Cuba, is Indonesian marks a reversal. Analysts say the change may be linked to his bully boy group Jemaah Islamiyah disbanding or President Prabowo Subianto’s historical concern for the rights of citizens abroad.

The reason given by Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Indonesia’s law minister, referred to Jakarta’s repatriation last month of a Filipina and five Australian drug convicts.

"Our primary concern is ensuring the protection and legal assistance for all Indonesian nationals abroad, regardless of their actions," Yusril told news hounds in Jakarta on Tuesday.

"This demonstrates to the public that the government is not only concerned with foreign prisoners in Indonesia but also cares for Indonesian citizens detained abroad," he had told news hounds last week, state news agency Antara reported.

BenarNews contacted Yusril’s office, which confirmed his comments to the media.

Hambali, whose real name is Encep Nurjaman, has been detained without trial for 18 years at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, with his case still unresolved.

The three bombs that targeted Bali nightclubs on Oct. 12, 2002, killed 202 people. The attacks were blamed on Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asian bully boy network linked to al-Qaeda — Hambali was a big shot.

Now 60 years old, Hambali was first arraigned before a U.S. military judge only in 2021. Another pre-trial hearing in the case is scheduled next week, from Jan. 27 until Jan. 31.

The latest developments in Indonesia related to the Hambali case follow the quiet repatriation last month of two Malaysian accomplices in the 2002 Bali bombings.

Yusril said that recent efforts through the previous Indonesian government to establish communication with Hambali through the Foreign Ministry had failed.

"We also asked the United States to expedite his trial, but that has not happened. In earlier discussions, repatriation for trial in Indonesia was considered," Yusril said.

Sidney Jones, senior advisor at the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, said that bringing Hambali back home was "the right thing to do."

"Nothing justifies the treatment Hambali has endured, including reported torture and indefinite detention," Jones told BenarNews.

"If he had been tried in Indonesia after his 2003 arrest, he might have received a life sentence."

The country’s counterterrorism unit, Detachment 88, though, is capable of monitoring him effectively, Jones said.

A front man for the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) declined to comment about why the government had reversed its position on Hambali.

As recently as 2021, the government denied that Hambali was an Indonesian citizen, citing his ownership of a foreign passport, and rejected any consideration of bringing him back.

Guantanamo Bay, a facility criticized globally for holding suspects indefinitely without trial, has long been a symbol of the post-9/11 war on terror, noted Al Chaidar, a terrorism analyst from Malikussaleh University in Lhokseumawe.

"This is the United States’ greatest failure — claiming to uphold democracy but disregarding the rule of law," he said.

"Hambali has been detained for more than 20 years without resolution."

Adlini Ilma Ghaisany Sjah, a terrorism researcher at Nanyang Technological University, told BenarNews "it’s possible" that this Indonesian government’s shift is related to the end of JI.

"The Indonesian police have also announced plans to repatriate 16 former JI members from Syria and 10 from the Philippines, which could indicate a broader shift in policy," said Adlini, from the Singapore university’s Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.

Besides, Prabowo has in the past championed the rights of Indonesian nationals abroad.

For instance, Prabowo himself advocated for the eventually successful return in 2021 of an Indonesian domestic worker on death row in Malaysia.

It is possible that if Jakarta requested Hambali’s repatriation, it may face resistance from the new U.S. administration under Donald Trump

...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
, Ian Wilson from Murdoch University in Australia told BenarNews.

"Considering Trump’s support for keeping the Guantanamo internment camp in operation, it would seem unlikely he’d be receptive to the idea of repatriation," said Wilson, a lecturer in politics and security studies.

"[That is] unless it was part of a deal seen as having clear benefits for his administration."

Wilson was referring to Trump’s earlier term as president, when he signed an executive order in 2018 to keep Guantanamo open.

Meanwhile,
...back at the revival hall, Buford bit the snake and Eloise began speaking in tongues...
one of Hambali’s younger brothers, Kankan Abdulkodir, told BenarNews that he had heard of talk regarding the potential repatriation and expressed hope for the best.

Kankan said the family last spoke to Hambali via video call last December, during which he told them he was in good health, but they were not allowed to discuss his legal case.

"If it is his fate to be released, then I hope it will happen," Kankan said.

"But if he has to stay at Guantanamo Bay, then so be it."

Link

Southeast Asia

Malaysians guilty of roles in 2002 Bali bombings released from Guantanamo

2024-12-25

2024-12-18
[BenarNews] The families of Mohammed Nazir bin Lep and Mohammed Farik bin Amin celebrated news of their return home.

Two Malaysians who pleaded guilty for their roles in the 2002 Bali bombings were in their government’s custody after the United States announced their repatriation from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, where they were locked up for 18 years.

The duo, Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, were turned over to Malaysian authorities, according to a statement from the home ministry in Kuala Lumpur.

"The unity government has received from the United States government the two Malaysian nationals, Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, who were in prison since 2006 at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp on the principle of human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
and support for universal justice," the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
it did not mention whether the two would be sent to a Malaysian prison upon being repatriated from the U.S. naval base in Cuba.

In January, a U.S. military judge at Guantanamo Bay sentenced bin Amin and bin Lep to five more years in prison after they pleaded guilty to five charges connected to their supporting roles in twin bombings that killed 202 people in October 2002 — Indonesia’s deadliest-ever terror attack.

Their repatriation this week was made in secret and information was released to their lawyers at the last minute.

Lawyer Brian Bouffard said his client, bin Lep, was a changed man and ready to be reunited with his family. Their repatriation this week was made in secret and information was released to their lawyers at the last minute.

"It is now more than two decades since Nazir was taken. He has grown in that time, and is today a man of peace who will live the remainder of his life in peace. We are grateful to everyone, in Malaysia and in the U.S., who understood that it was time to bring Nazir home," Bouffard said in a text message to BenarNews.

In its own statement, the U.S. Defense Department said both men had provided testimony before their departure against Indonesian Encep Nurjaman (Hambali

...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and whatever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th and 47th President of the United States...
’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

"There has been concern following Trump’s victory in the U.S. election. But we leave it to the government and the authority to work on it. Our hope is for him to be released soon," the source said.

WE LOVE HIM
Relatives of bin Lep were elated that he is back in Malaysia.

Professing his love for his younger brother, Najib Lep, 60, said he had already made plans to reintegrate him back into the society.

"We love him. We will take care of him and his welfare when he returns to us," Najib told BenarNews.

"For now, we have yet to receive any information from the Malaysian authorities. What we’ve got so far is just details from the media. Nevertheless, we cannot be more happy and grateful to Allah."

A source, who requested anonymity to ensure the safety of bin Amin’s family, said they were ready to welcome him home.

"Mohammed Farik has expressed his desire to care for his ailing parents upon return. His siblings have prepared a place for him to stay and will provide other necessary assistance for him. It will take time to readjust as he has been away from home for more than 20 years.

"The family is not ready to speak to the press and is waiting for clearance to meet Mohammed Farik," the source told BenarNews.

Bin Amin’s parents, ages 82 and 88, had been made aware of his return.

Lawyer Christine Funk said she and other members of bin Amin’s legal team were overjoyed by the prospect of their client being back in Malaysia.

"Mr. bin Amin said it best at his sentencing, when he told the Commission, the prosecution, the victim family members, and the observers, ’Instead of trying to change the world, I can only change myself. And over the past 20 years, I have changed. I am not an angry young man anymore. I am a reformed man,’" Funk said in a statement to BenarNews, adding he planned to "go forward as a good and peaceful Moslem."

Funk said the other members are confident that bin Amin will succeed.

Malaysian National Police Chief Razarudin Husain said the pair were to be evaluated and rehabilitated before being reintegrated into society, adding "everyone deserves a second chance."

"Both individuals are in good and healthy condition and feel blessed that they are able to return home and finally reunite with their family," he said in a statement about bin Amin and bin Lep.

"Both showed a positive attitude and openness toward the evaluation process and rehabilitation and have expressed their high commitment to become progressive members of society."

CONGRESS NOTIFIED LAST MONTH
Leading up to their release, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin notified Congress on Nov. 14 "of his intent to repatriate" the Malaysians "and, in consultation with our partners in Malaysia, we completed the requirements for responsible transfer," the statement from the Pentagon said. A 30-day notice must be filed before such transfers can occur.

The Malaysians had been linked to Hambali until their cases were separated from his in 2023 ahead of their plea deal.

Court documents state that beginning at the end of 2001, "including the periods before, during, and after the October 12, 2002, Bali bombings," bin Lep and bin Amin helped Hambali "transfer money for operations, and obtain and store items such as fraudulent identification documents, weapons and instructions on how to make bombs."

With the transfer, the number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay has been reduced to 27, the Pentagon said.

Link

Southeast Asia

Too good to be true? Unpacking Jemaah Islamiyah’s self-declared disbanding

2024-09-08

2024.07.10
[BenarNews] At an event organized last month by the Indonesian counter-terrorism agency (BNPT), Abu Rusydan and 15 other leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah announced their group’s dissolution.

JI, the Southeast Asian affiliate of al-Qaeda, had carried out a string of devastating attacks in the 2000s, including Indonesia’s deadliest-ever terror attack — the 2002 Bali bombings. But now it was "ready to actively contribute to Indonesia’s progress and dignity," Abu Rusydan declared as he read from a prepared statement during the event on June 30.

This is not the first time that a bully boy group has disbanded itself. The Provisional Irish Republican Army unilaterally broke up in 2005, throwing itself solely into legal activities through its political arm, Sinn Féin. In 2018, the Basque separatist organization ETA also unilaterally disbanded.

But Jemaah Islamiyah’s announcement surprised many people, and left others feeling skeptical.

There are three interrelated questions that need to be asked about the move by JI: How did we get here? Is this for real? And what does this mean for regional security?

HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Jemaah Islamiyah, which has its roots in the Darul Islam movement, was founded in Malaysia in 1993, when its two founders, Abdullah Sungkar and

Abu Bakar Bashir
... Leader of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council and proprietor of the al-Mukmin madrassah in Ngruki. The spriritual head of Jemaah Islamiya, which he denies exists. Bashir was jugged and then released in the wake of the 2002 Bali bombings, which he blamed on a conspiracy among the U.S., Israel, and Australia. In 2014, as leader of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), he pledged allegiance to ISIS. Currently in jug...
, were on the run from Suharto’s New Order government in Indonesia.

While in Malaysia, they served as a way-station for several hundred gunnies who traveled to Pakistain to join the anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan, putting them in direct contact with al-Qaeda.

In 1996, a charter (the PUPJI) created the group’s organizational structure and codified JI’s Salafi ideology. At the time, the group also reached an agreement with the Philippine armed separatist organization, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, to allow al-Qaeda to establish training camps in the southern Philippines.

In Indonesia, JI perpetrated terrorist attacks on Christian churches and established two paramilitary organizations to wage sectarian conflict in the Maluku Islands and Central Sulawesi province.

Following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, the al-Qaeda leadership called for diversionary attacks. One of these was the twin Bali bombings that killed 202 people a year later.

Between 2002 and 2007, JI perpetrated a major attack almost every year. But each attack left the organization weaker as counterterrorism forces became more adept and better resourced.

This led to an ideological split in the organization between proponents of the line of targeting the "far enemy," versus those who wanted to foment sectarian conflict in order to rebuild their depleted ranks.

The government legally banned JI in 2008, but allowed it to operate as an entity as long as it refrained from violence.

In 2010, more than 100 JI members were swept up, including Abu Bakar Bashir, breaking the organization’s back. JI’s last terrorist act took place that year.

Yet, from 2020-2023, Indonesian counter-terrorism efforts were as focused on JI as it was on the pro-Islamic State

...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
umbrella group, Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD). Security forces originally saw JI as an off-ramp for the more radical JAD, but attitudes hardened.

In 2019, when counterterrorism police arrested JI’s emir, Para Wijayanto, they were shocked by the group’s size and national reach. Its madrassas and charitable arms had grown, while its corporations and publishing arms had created a steady revenue stream. As many JI members were arrested in 2021 and 2022 as JAD suspects.

Indonesian counter-terrorism forces have applied a softer approach. Though seemingly campy, they’ve held mass rallies where former gunnies pledge allegiance to the republic.

Former gunnies have established madrassas for the children of incarcerated bully boys, so they are not raised in JI or JAD-run schools, breaking terrorist social networks.

They’ve gotten leaders, including the JAD Emir Aman Abdurrahman, who is on death row, and Umar Patek, to publicly renounce violence.

Meanwhile the conflict in Poso, which served as a rallying point for all bully boy groups in Indonesia, has been stamped out.

Internationally, there has been more cooperation amongst the regional security services. And while ungoverned space and institutional weakness remains in the southern Philippines, bully boy groups are no longer attracting JI and other foreign bully boys.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front continues to implement the grinding of the peace processor and build up institutions that will help the autonomous Moslem region transition to self-governance. There has been an unprecedented sustained attack on the Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
, which is now fighting for survival.

IS THIS FOR REAL?
While JI has not been in a position to engage in terrorism, until now, it has never renounced violence. Many in the organization were simply waiting for the right circumstance to resume operations.

It’s easy to be cynical about the group’s prepared statement, especially at an event stage-managed by the BNPT. Some of those who were on hand had been arrested and gone through government disengagement programs.

To young radicals, they’re sell-outs, and past their prime. The average age of the men who renounced violence was in the late 50s or older.

To what degree will younger members follow the leadership and pursue a legal-political alternative?

In many ways, this is more promising. JI’s campaign of militancy failed to bring about the establishment of an Islamic State governed by Sharia. Democratic politics have advanced their political agenda more effectively.

It’s not that Islamist parties do terribly well at the national level. Indeed, in Indonesia’s 2024 general election, they collectively represented about 20% of the electorate and won 101 of 580 seats. But they are important members of political coalitions, which tend to give them a disproportionate voice.

It’s at the local level where we see faith-based parties make their mark, especially in the passage of public policy and Sharia compliant codes, which the majority of provinces and districts now have.

Islamist parties are riddled with rivalries and have never formed a cohesive bloc.

Perhaps for that reason, JI saw an opening for a tactical shift. In May 2021, JI established the Indonesian People’s Dakwah Party (PDRI). Yet, counter-terrorism forces arrested its founder, Farid Ahmad Okbah, that November for being a senior member of JI. Two others were arrested.

The PDRI did not contest the 2024 elections. But it seems likely that with JI’s dissolution, the government will give former members more political space.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR REGIONAL SECURITY?
JI’s manpower and locus were largely-Indonesian based, but it remains a Southeast Asian organization.

Some affiliates gravitated elsewhere. Darul Islam Sabah, for example, went from facilitating JI and the movement of foreign gunnies in and out of the southern Philippines to working with the JAD and other groups.

There has always been more fluidity between Southeast Asian bully boy groups than those in the Middle East or South Asia. Abu Bakar Bashir defected from being pro-al Qaeda to being pro-Islamic State, with large numbers of acolytes, without consequence.

As such, many younger gunnies who are committed to using violence to achieve their political aims are likely to defect to other groups.

What those groups may be, though, is unclear. The JAD is decimated and leaderless, though to be fair, it was always far more horizontally structured. It has not executed a major terrorist attack since 2019.

At present there is no apparent charismatic leader for bully boy Salafists
...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them...
to coalesce around. And while one would expect external events, such as the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
, to serve as a catalyst, to date it has not.

JI still runs a network of madrassas, including some very large ones like al-Mukmin and Pesantren Hidayatullah in Balikpapan. These continue to be ideological incubators and hate factories.

It’s hard to see state educational personnel intervene and change their curriculum. But Indonesian security forces have not let up, despite the decline in organizational strength or the tempo of operations.

Terrorism will be a persistent but manageable threat in Indonesia. JI’s dissolution makes it more so, providing a legal-political alternative that is more moral, but also proven to be more effective.

Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or BenarNews.

Link

Southeast Asia

Philippine govt soldiers kill 8 suspected Islamic State-linked militants in Mindanao firefight

2024-01-28

[BenarNews] Eight suspected Filipino snuffies belonging to a local group allied with Islamic State

That would be the attack on Mindanao State University.

According to military officials, the Filipino snuffies were apparently acting under the instructions of the Islamic State, which had earlier owned up to the attack.

"During the military operations the troops killed eight enemies," Brig. Gen. Yegor Rey Baroquillo Jr., commander of the 103rd, told BenarNews. After the firefight, troops retrieved the bodies of the slain bad boys, he said.

Baroquillo said four members of the Scout Rangers, who were maimed in the fighting, were brought to a local hospital. He did not divulge the extent of their wounds.

He said the troops were after the Marawi bombers and that search operations were focused on three Lanao towns believed to be strongholds of the DI-Maute: Pantao Ragat, Poona PIagapo and Munai.

Brig. Gen. Anthon Abrina, commander of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, told BenarNews in a phone interview that "we are on heightened, red alert status following the encounter Thursday evening."

Troop reinforcements have been brought in and several checkpoints were established along the national highway leading to the areas "to ensure the safety of civilians in their respective communities," Abrina said.

The towns in Lanao are near the city of Marawi, where the bombing took place.

Military chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. has blamed the DI-Maute group for the bombing, saying it was carried out as Dire Revenge for a military operation elsewhere in the south that left over a dozen snuffies killed.

Two of those killed were identified as Mundi Sawadjaan and Jalandoni Lucsadato. Sawadjaan has been identified as a sub-leader of the Abu Sayyaf
...also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya, an Islamist terror group based in Jolo, Basilan and Zamboanga. Since its inception in the early 1990s, the group has carried out bombings, kidnappings, murders, head choppings, and extortion in their uniquely Islamic attempt to set up an independent Moslem province in the Philippines. Abu Sayyaf forces probably number less than 300 cadres. The group is closely allied with remnants of Indonesia's Jemaah Islamiya and has loose ties with MILF and MNLF who sometimes provide cannon fodder...
, another Islamic State-linked group in the southern Philippines.

He was also the nephew of the late Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who was thought to be the group’s leader before he was killed in 2020. The elder Sawadjaan at one time was also named as the IS leader for the Philippines.

Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan also criminal masterminded a January 2019 bombing at a Catholic church on southern Jolo island that killed 23 people including an Indonesian couple blamed for the suicide kaboom, according to Philippine authorities.

Link

Southeast Asia

Malaysian defendants in Bali bombings to serve about 5 more years

2024-01-28

[BenarNews] A U.S. military judge ruled Friday that two Malaysians linked to the 2002 Bali bombings are to serve about five more years in prison in addition to the two decades they have been detained. The announcement at the military court in Guantanamo Bay came shortly after a panel of military officers recommended 23-year sentences for the pair, who last week pleaded guilty to supporting roles in Indonesia’s worst-ever terror attack that left 202 people dead. The lighter punishment reflects terms of a plea deal struck late last year, details of which were revealed in Judge Wesley Braun’s announcement Friday.

The five-member panel deliberated for about two hours after hearing final statements, .

On Friday night, it remained unclear whether Mohammed Farik Bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep would complete their sentences at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba or elsewhere. chief prosecutor Col. George C. Kraehe did not immediately respond to a question about this from BenarNews.

The two defendants and the relatives of their victims showed no emotion as the panel issued its recommendation inside the nondescript building that houses the military court, or moments later when the judge handed down his ruling.

The two men have been incarcerated at Guantanamo since they were flown here 17 years ago from a CIA black site overseas, and it was only in August 2021 that they finally got their first day in court here.

Bin Lep and bin Amin made statements on Thursday that their hearts had changed during more than 20 years in jug — first in Thailand following their 2003 arrests, then at a CIA black site before arriving at the base in Cuba in 2006.

The two wore Islamic garb earlier in the week but appeared in court on Friday in blazers and button-down shirts. Their sentences take effect from last week, when Braun, a U.S. Air Force officer, accepted their guilty pleas.

Delivering the prosecution’s closing arguments Friday, Kraehe said he spoke for the victims’ families — those watching in the hearing room and thousands of others who could not attend.

Addressing the defendants’ claims that they were tortured under the American government’s Rendition, Detention and Interrogation (RDI) policy, Kraehe said that occurred years ago. They have been treated humanely at Guantanamo, he said, telling the panel members that they were not tasked with judging the RDI policy.

"Our task is to give the victims justice," he said. "The accused are not the victims here."

Kraehe told of how bin Amin and bin Lep had "heeded the late Osama bin Laden

...... who doesn't live anywhere anymore......
’s call" in the 1990s. They headed to Afghanistan in 2000, trained to participate in ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful jihad and swore an oath to bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

"This is what they wanted, what they trained for," Kraehe said.

During that time, the pair met Indonesian Encep Nurjaman (also known as Hambali

...real name Riduan Isamuddin, close personal friend of Osama bin Laden, one of the founders of Jemaah Islamiyah and the planner of the 2002 Bali bombings. He was captured with the help of a mid-Eastern intel service, shipped to Guantanamo to rot but he'll likely be released eventually because that was a long time ago and we were all so much younger then...
), the suspected main planner of the 2002 Bali bombings. Their cases were separated in 2023, with Hambali’s lawyer saying that his client did not expect to be given a similar plea deal.

Last week, bin Amin and bin Lep pleaded guilty to murder, conspiracy and three other charges.

Christine Funk, the lead attorney for bin Amin, said the worst thing he ever did was take money in December 2002 — two months after the Oct. 12 bombings — to hide conspirators. That conspiracy led to the pleas on murder and four other charges.

"You become responsible for everyone’s actions," she said.

She acknowledged the victims’ suffering while pleading her case for bin Amin.

"Because we believe the pain of the victims can co-exist with the rights of the defendant," she told the panel.

Funk, who wears a headscarf in court in deference to her Moslem client, discussed the torture he claims he was subjected to following his arrest in Thailand and during his time at the CIA black site. She used a few of his sketches presented in court on Thursday to show torture, including waterboarding.

She also released details from a report by expert Hawthorne Smith, who has worked with survivors of torture and human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
abuses for nearly three decades. He found bin Amin suffered from complex PTSD.

"[H]e indicates that Mr. bin Amin has endured symptoms of re-experiencing, such as trauma-related nightmares, sometimes three to four times a week; insomnia and other sleep disturbances; and intrusive thoughts," Funk said.

She spoke about bin Amin’s effort to change and the possibility that he be rehabilitated.

Bin Lep attorney Brian Bouffard told the court that his client did provide support to bombing conspirators and has taken responsibility for his actions.

"He is not here to call himself a victim," Bouffard said, adding bin Lep is not asking for mercy,

He said bin Lep offered prayers as he listened to the survivors’ testimony on Wednesday while adding that those efforts changed nothing in terms of the crime.

Bouffard also said that bin Lep had moved past the torture he suffered while in jug and has cooperated with Sherlocks.

Brig. Gen. Jackie Thompson, chief counsel for the Military Commissions Defense Council, expressed hope that guilty pleas and subsequent sentencings of bin Amin and bin Lep would bring closure to the victims and their families. Thompson, who watched the proceedings from the hearing room at the rear of the court, delivered a statement to BenarNews where he noted that the 20-year delay in bringing the men to justice was "extremely distressing and frustrated the desire of everyone for accountability and justice."

Thompson, who is in charge of the military’s defense attorneys, noted that 30 prisoners remain detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison, including 16 who have been cleared for release or transfer.

"The time for repatriating or transferring the cleared men is now," he said in the statement.

"A country that respects the rule of law can and should do better than this."

More can be read about the trial in this Benar News article from a few days ago.

Link

Southeast Asia

Experts: Extremist groups spread disinformation online to provoke conflict during Indonesian election

2024-01-07

[Be arNews] Radical and bully boy groups in Indonesia have spread political disinformation online ahead of next month’s general election, with hoax content on the internet up nearly 80% last year compared with during the 2019 election, experts said. The intent isn’t to influence the election result, researchers said, but to provoke conflict in society and undermine the electoral process ahead of the nationwide polls set for Feb. 14 in Southeast Asia’s largest country.

Hoaxes and fabricated stories about the election have been circulating on social media platforms like Facebook, X, and Instagram. While some are mere political mudslinging, others could have serious repercussions, observers said.

Husen Asyhari, from LPTI Pelataran Mataram, a research institute in Yogyakarta, sees a clear attempt to deliberately mislead the electorate with false information.

"There are efforts to influence voters through targeted disinformation, and some of it comes from terrorist groups with a historical anti-democratic stance," Husen told BenarNews.

Among the groups Husen was referring to are Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which was responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings, and the Islamic State

A fashionable subject in the West, so everyone else needs to address it as well, I guess.

With the race for the presidency set to be among three candidates,Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, former Central Java Gov. Ganjar Pranowo, and ex-Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan, who is popular among conservative Moslems, they have become targets, of course.

Among the plethora of disinformation was a TikTok video that claimed without basis that Anies would establish a caliphate if he became president.

According to Mafindo, some online hoax content has targeted Ganjar and his running mate, Mohammad Mahfud MD, over their alleged views on pornography and LGBTQI+ issues.

One of the fabricated stories claimed that ruling party nominee Ganjar had admitted to watching pornography since he was a child. However,
some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go...
according to Mafindo, he had only said, "So what if I watch pornography?" without a word about his childhood.

Another piece of fakery circulated on Facebook was a doctored photograph of Ganjar kissing a very young woman, with a post above the picture saying: "If this kind of person becomes the president, Indonesia will be destroyed."

A false story attributed a statement to Mahfud MD that being LGBTQI+ was natural. Mafindo verified this was false and Mahfud MD denied making such a statement.

Link

Southeast Asia

Malaysia seeking return of 2 Gitmo detainees: home minister

2023-09-27

[BenarNews] Kuala Lumpur is working to bring home two Malaysian suspects in the 2002 Bali bombings who have been detained at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay for 17 years, the home minister said Monday after a trip to New York last week. In a Facebook post that has since been removed, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said he had discussed the matter while in New York with Tina Kaidanow, the U.S. special representative for Guantanamo affairs. He said he had traveled to the prison, located in Cuba, but did not say when.

Malaysians Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep were arrested in Thailand in 2003, along with Indonesian Encep Nurjaman, also known as Hambali

"I have met with two Malaysians detained there. Their story really touched me. It’s a downward spiral about life, about repentance, about the chance to be a better person," Saifuddin said. "With God’s grace, we will try to expedite the process for them to return to Malaysia."

The home minister did not reply to BenarNews’ request for comment about why the social media post was removed about nine hours after it went live.

Saifuddin and Inspector General of Police Razarudin Husain were part of the Malaysian delegation led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
General Assembly in New York. Contacted by BenarNews, Razarudin deferred to the home minister.

Malaysians Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep, along with Indonesian Encep Nurjaman, also known as Hambali

Why?

Bin Amin’s lead attorney, Christine Funk, declined to comment when asked by BenarNews about the significance of the move and whether it might pave the way for his departure from Guantanamo.

Bin Lep’s lawyer, Brian Bouffard, could not be reached for comment. But Nurjaman’s attorney, James Hodes, said he expected bin Lep’s case would also be "severed" from his client’s.

"That’s merely my understanding," he told BenarNews on Monday, while adding he did not know for sure.

Hodes said he did not expect either Malaysian defendant to attend the next sessions, scheduled for Oct. 16 to 27 on the court calendar. A court administrator told BenarNews the sessions would likely be cut to one week..

Hodes said Hambali was "happy on the one hand" that it appeared his co-defendants could be returning to Malaysia.

"He’s hoping that will be the end result for him as well," Hodes said.

’READY TO TAKE THEM’
The three Southeast Asians appeared in court for the first time in 2021 for a two-day arraignment hearing, but there has been little progress since then, largely due to defense attorneys’ concerns over poor translation services, and a lack of evidence provided to them.

On Monday, counter terrorism analyst Ahmad El-Muhammady of the International Islamic University of Malaysia told BenarNews that he believed the Malaysian government was working on a potential deal for the return of both bin Amin and bin Lep.

"This is the way forward and to meet the humanitarian rights perspective. They have been under detention for 20 years," he told BenarNews.

Ahmad, who is an adviser to the Royal Malaysian Police on terrorist rehabilitation programs, said both would need to undergo psychological and ideological assessment should they return home.

"But their return will be a lowkey affair due to the sensitivity of the issue. They also need to be put under rehabilitation programs like the former IS fighters and family who we brought home," he said.

Mohd Mizan Mohammad Aslam, security analyst at the National Defense University of Malaysia, said he would love for bin Amin and bin Lep to be repatriated.

"Let our judiciary system do its best for them. I believe our government is ready to take them and give them an opportunity to come back to our country because they are our people. If they already agree to any kind of consequences, that would be good for them," he told BenarNews.

"They might spend another few years in detention and then be released back into society."

In the past, when former Islamic State

The poor darlings.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Pre-trial hearings resume for SEAsian suspects held at Guantanamo

2023-04-25

[BenarNews] Prosecutors preparing a case against three Southeast Asians incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay will finish sharing evidence with defense attorneys in January 2024, lawyers said Monday, illustrating the glacial pace of progress toward trial for men held at the controversial prison since 2006.

Indonesian Encep Nurjaman (also known as Hambali

...more formally Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep, informally Lillie. He’s one of Hambali’s lieutenants — they were captured together in Thailand in 2003...

and Farik bin Amin

... another Hambali lieutenant, he’s known more formally as Mohd Farik Bin Amin, his nom de guerre was Zubair Zaid and while it’s uncertain whether he was captured with the other two, the three spent years with the same interrogators. His cousin was master bomb maker Zulkifli Abdhir, called Marwan, who provided senior management and work product for the Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia, Jemaah Islamiyah, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters until he intersected a hail of Philippine bullets in 2015...

were present in the courtroom at the U.S. military facility in Cuba for proceedings witnessed by news hounds via video link to Fort Meade, a military base about an hour northeast of Washington. The men face charges linked to terrorist bombings in Indonesia in 2002 and 2003.

Lead prosecutor Col. George C. Kraehe said his team was seeking to "get this case tried on the merits by March 2025."

Earlier, Brian Bouffard, who represents bin Lep, questioned the government’s pace in presenting evidence to the defense teams. Lawyers for bin Amin and Nurjaman raised similar issues.

"We are trying to uncover the reasons for delay after delay after delay," Bouffard told the court.

Military Judge Hayes C. Larsen noted the defense concerns about late filings.

Kraehe said his team was working to gather evidence for the trial, adding that it was working on this even during the hearing.

"This is not unusual in a national security case," he said.

Kraehe said that about 90% of the evidence had been turned over to the defense, and the remaining 10% was highly classified. Because of that, steps need to be taken before it is turned over to defense, he said, adding that he expected to finish doing so by late January 2024.

Referred to as "alien unprivileged enemy belligerents" in some court documents, Nurjaman, bin Amin and bin Lep face charges related to twin bombings that killed 202 people in Bali in October 2002 — Indonesia’s deadliest terror attack to date — and a bombing at the J.W. Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2003.

Following their 2003 arrests in Thailand, the three were sent to secret CIA black sites before being moved to the Guantanamo Bay prison in 2006. A U.S. Senate report released in 2014 found that each was tortured during his time in the black sites.

INTERPRETATION ISSUES
Monday’s hearing — the first of three days scheduled — began with prosecutors questioning Larsen, who will be leaving the bench in June to assume command of the Navy’s Defense Service Office West. He said he did not have any information about who would take over the trial.

Twenty minutes into the hearing, Bouffard and Christine Funk, who represents bin Amin, complained — as they have done throughout the legal process — of inadequate translation services, saying their clients were hearing Bahasa Indonesia interpretation instead of their national language, Bahasa Malaysia.

Later, the two lawyers told Larsen that English words were being intermixed with the translations.

"It’s a tired refrain," Larsen responded, dismissing the complaint.

During their two-day August 2021 arraignment, lawyers for the three men spent much of the time protesting before Larsen regarding the poor quality of interpreting.

Larsen ordered military prosecutors to hire and assign qualified interpreters for any upcoming court action.

Link

Southeast Asia

From militancy to PhD: Brother of Bali bombers reaches academic peak

2023-03-01

[BenarNews] Ali Fauzi Manzi, a former terror convict whose brothers were behind the 2002 Bali bombings, shed tears as he delivered a speech during commencement at a university in Malang last week. The repentant former bomb-maker for the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jemaah Islamiyah had just received his doctorate in Islamic education for his research subject, "Religious moderation for former terrorism convicts."

A 2020 IPAC report said 11% of terror convicts in the country become repeat offenders.

Ali, 51, says meeting with the Bali bombing survivors and the victims’ families made him dedicate his life to helping former murderous Moslems like himself reintegrate into society.

"This is the happiest day of my life," he said to loud applause in front of more than 2,000 other graduates at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang.

Link

Southeast Asia

Bali bombmaker paroled; suicide bomber kills 1 in attack on police station

2022-12-08

[BenarNews] Indonesia on Wednesday released the Bali attacks bombmaker from prison at least seven years before he served out his full 20-year sentence. A justice ministry official confirmed that Umar Patek, who assembled the bombs used in the 2002 Bali Bombings — Indonesia’s worst ever terror attack — was freed on parole in the morning.

On the same day, a former terrorism convict apparently unhappy with Indonesia’s new criminal code went kaboom! at a cop shoppe in Bandung, killing an officer and wounding 10 other people, officials said.

The bomber had been released from prison last March after serving four years for a failed suicide kaboom in 2017 that was blamed on Jamaah Ansharut Daulah

...founded by our old friend Abu Bakar Bashir of Al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah fame, JAD translates cleverly as Partisans of the Islamic State, but really only means (Wink! Wink!) ISIS in Indonesia...
(JAD), an Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
-linked bully boy group, police said.

Umar had been associated with another bully boy group, Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian affiliate of the al-Qaeda international terror network.

"Hisyam bin Alizein, alias Umar Patek, was released from the Surabaya Penitentiary under the parole program," said Rika Aprianti, spokesperson for the directorate general of corrections at the Law and Human Rights Ministry.

Rika said Umar had fulfilled conditions for parole, including having served two-thirds of his sentence and taking part in deradicalization programs as well as pledging allegiance to the state.

"The granting of parole was also recommended by the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) and the Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88)," Rika said in a statement, referring to the police’s elite anti-terrorism unit.

Umar has to now mandatorily join a "mentoring program" until April 2030, and his parole would be revoked if he violates it in any way, the statement said.

Umar was arrested in Pakistain in 2011 and tried in Indonesia. In 2012, instead of receiving the death penalty

, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Like other prisoners in Indonesia, Umar, too, had received a series of sentence cuts for good behavior to mark Indonesian holidays.

In August, Umar said in an interview with the prison chief that it was a "mistake" to be involved in the Oct. 12, 2002 twin bombings in Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Indonesian authorities blamed the attack on Jemaah Islamiyah.

In 2008, Indonesian authorities executed Imam Samudra, Amrozi and Mukhlas for their roles in the bombings.

Counterterrorism officials have touted Umar as a deradicalization success story, but the news in August that he would be paroled outraged people and officials in Australia.

BOMBING KILLS POLICE OFFICER
Meanwhile,
...back at the revival hall, the SWAT team had finally arrived...
several people on social media expressed their unhappiness about Umar’s early release.

"His release today at the same time as #BomBunuhDiri #Bandung [the suicide kaboom in Bandung] actually gives a negative signal to the public and will cheer up terrorist groups," @HastoSuprayogo said on Twitter.

Police said the jacket wallah forced his way into the Astana Anyar cop shoppe in Bandung, the capital of West Java province, and set off the bomb while officers were conducting a morning roll-call.

"He was stopped by several officers, but he brandished a knife and suddenly there was a kaboom," said provincial police chief Inspector General Suntana, who uses one name.

Fingerprint and facial recognition results confirmed that the perpetrator was Agus Sujatno, national police chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo told news hounds. The 34-year-old bomber had not been successfully deradicalized, Listyo said.

Photos circulating online showed the bomber’s body parts strewn on the ground. An officer identified as Sofyan died in a hospital of his injuries.

Police seized a cycle of violence they said belonged to the bomber. The vehicle had an Islamic State logo and a piece of paper taped to the front of the vehicle that read "The Criminal Code, the law of polytheists/infidels. Wage war against Satanic law enforcers."

The attack came a day after the Indonesian parliament passed a broad new criminal code that, critics fear, would threaten civil liberties. Listyo said police also found pieces of paper at the scene scribbled with criticisms of the criminal code.

The national police have ordered stations across the country to tighten security and increase vigilance, front man Brigadier Gen. Ahmad Ramadhan said.

’WE CAN’T READ THEIR MINDS’
Nasir Abbas, a former bully boy who has worked with counter-terrorism police, said the attack was a sign that that JAD could still carry out attacks.

"This shows that the movement (JAD) still exists and is capable of getting people to carry out suicide kabooms. That’s the message," Nasir told BenarNews.

Nasir said the bomber’s supposed objection to the new criminal code was not surprising because JAD Death Eaters had always rejected Indonesian secular laws in favor of sharia.

Imron Rasyid, a security analyst at the Habibie Center think-tank, said the attack was timed with the controversy over the criminal code.

"They are taking advantage of the moment [to increase the impact of their action]," Imron told BenarNews.

Imron warned that JAD remained a major threat because the group had been recruiting while authorities were preoccupied with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Boy Rafli Amar, the head of the National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT), rejected suggestions that security authorities were caught off guard.

"Terrorists always look for opportunities to strike. We can’t read their minds," Boy said.

Indonesian authorities have blamed JAD for a series of attacks in Indonesia over the past six years.

These include gun and kabooms near a shopping center and a coffee shop in Central Jakarta in 2016, the first terror strike claimed by the Islamic State in Southeast Asia. The attack killed eight people including four bully boys.

JAD was also involved in suicide kabooms in 2018 in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, authorities said. Twenty-seven people died, including 13 suspects.

Link

Southeast Asia

Wanted BIFF militant surrenders in southern Philippines

2022-10-06

[BenarNews] An aide to one of the Philippines’ most wanted bomb-makers, the late hard boy Abdul Basit Usman, has surrendered to authorities in the volatile southern region of Mindanao, officials said Wednesday.

The suspect, identified as Manap Mamaluba, is a member of the Islamic State

Link

Southeast Asia

Task force commander urges gradual end to counter-militancy operations in Poso

2022-10-05

[BenarNews] Although government forces have wiped out the Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen (MIT) organization, counter-militancy operations in Central Sulawesi should be terminated gradually because sympathizers of murderous Moslem groups are still present there, a security bigshot said.

Last week, authorities announced that they had killed the last armed member of MIT, after seven years of tracking a dwindling number of runaways in the region’s forested mountains.

A decision is expected soon from authorities in Jakarta on what personnel are needed in Central Sulawesi to ensure that the province is safe post-MIT, senior Police Commissioner Arif Budiman told BenarNews.

"Radical groups and Jemaah Islamiyah sympathizers in Poso and its surroundings still exist," Arif told BenarNews, referring to a regency that was a hotbed of MIT activity. He did not name groups other than JI, the al-Qaeda affiliate that carried out major bombings in Bali in 2002 and 2005.

Arif heads the 1,378-strong Madago Raya Task Force operating in three regencies of Central Sulawesi — the latest in a series of joint police and military operations deployed in the region since 2015.

He said that termination of such operations should be "carried out in stages."

The last known MIT member, Al Ikhwarisman (also known as Jaid and Pak Guru), 34, was rubbed out by members of Densus 88 in Poso Pesisir Utara district on Sept. 29, authorities said.

MIT was formed in 2010, rooted in the bloody conflict between the Moslem-Christian community in Poso that killed more than 1,000 people between 1998 and 2001. It was known for terrorizing local farmers, occasionally beheading them, and as the first turban group in Indonesia to pledge allegiance to the Islamic State

Link

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