The US has transferred two men convicted of involvement in the deadly Bali bombings home to Malaysia from the Guantanamo Bay military prison.
Prosecutors allege Mohammed Farik bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir bin Lep worked for years with Encep Nurjaman, known as Hambali, an Indonesian leader of al-Qaeda affiliate Jemaah Islamiya.
They are accused of helping Hambali escape capture after October 12, 2002 bombings that killed 202 people – including 88 Australians – at two night spots in Bali, US officials said.
The two men entered guilty pleas to conspiracy and other charges in January. They were sentenced by a military jury to 23 years in confinement, not counting time served.
After they agreed to give evidence against Hambali, the alleged bombing mastermind, their sentences were reduced to about five years each, the Pentagon said on Wednesday (US time).
The US Defence Department has confirmed the pair have returned to Malaysia, although some details about their transfer remain unknown.
A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the Albanese government had “conveyed to the US and Malaysia our close interest in this matter on numerous occasions”.
“We recognise that this news will be distressing for the survivors and families of victims of terrorist attacks, especially the 2002 Bali bombings,” the spokesperson said.
“While the arrangements for the transfer are a matter for the Malaysian and US governments, we have sought assurances from the Malaysian government that the individuals will be subject to ongoing supervision and monitoring.”
Hambali is in custody in Guantanamo awaiting resumption of pre-trial hearings in January involving the Bali bombings and other attacks.
The transfer of the pair, and the repatriation on Tuesday of a Kenyan man held at Guantanamo for 17 years without charge, come as rights groups and others push the Biden administration to end the detention of more than a dozen other men held there without charge, and amid uncertainty over the incoming Trump administration’s plans for the military jail.
The latest transfers leave 27 detainees in custody at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay. US president George W Bush set up a military tribunal and prison at the Cuban base after the September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda attacks on the US.
At its peak, Guantanamo detained hundreds of men, most Muslim, in the US military’s “war on terror” after the September 11 attacks.
Just two of the men at Guantanamo are serving sentences. US prosecution of seven others facing charges has been slowed by legal obstacles — including those presented by the torture of the men in their first years under CIA custody – and logistical difficulties.
On Tuesday, US authorities repatriated Kenyan man Mohammed Abdul Malik Bajabu, after 17 years at Guantanamo without charge.
His release left 15 other never-charged men awaiting release. The US says it is searching for suitable countries willing to take them. Many are from Yemen, a country split by war and dominated by an Iranian-allied militant group.
Amnesty International urged US President Joe Biden to end the detention of those never-charged men before he leaves office. If not, the rights group said, “he will continue to bear responsibility for the abhorrent practice of indefinite detention without charge or trial by the US government.”
– with AAP