KUALA LUMPUR - The United States military court has accepted the claims made by two Malaysians and an Indonesian who asserted that the Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia interpreters provided during their terrorism trial were biased and incompetent.
The trio, who are Malaysians Mohammed Nazir Lep and Mohammed Farik Amin along with Indonesian Encep Nurjaman (known as Hanbali), are currently detained at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba over their alleged involvement in the November 2002 Bali bombings.
On August 30 last year, the trio had refused to enter a plea deal during their arraignment before a US military tribunal, with defence lawyers expressing frustration and doubt about the fairness of the proceedings, particularly on the impartiality of translators provided to the defendants.
The trio then requested for the US military court to set a fresh arraignment with new interpreters responsible prior to them entering their pleas, reported news portal Free Malaysia today.
The US government has been ordered to submit an updated interpreter support plan by February this year, with the trio’s hearing scheduled to be held from February 28 to March 4.
Military judge Commander Hayes Larsen clarified that the Malaysian interpreter identified by the government for the next hearing is the same individual as the last, with the state repeating its proposal to use only one interpreter for each language.
He added, however, that such practices are insufficient, saying: “This is inadequate. The government will identify two interpreters per language for future hearings”.
According to Larsen, the current plan is to identify at least two interpreters for each language while also being able to support the court during the hearing, either from the Guatanamo Bay Naval Station or remotely from the national capital.
“The interpreters will possess appropriate security clearance while also being screened for potentially disqualifying work histories,” he said, adding that before February 8, the government will coordinate with the Military Commission Office for an analysis of the Malaysian interpretation during last year’s hearing by an independent interpreter.
As such, the defence has until February 8 to file any objections to the interpreters identified by the government in its support plan.
Nazir’s lead counsel, Brian Bouffard, said that the defence was pleased with the decision as a transparent view of the situation is now provided, with the commission taking the issue more seriously.
Calling the decision a minor victory, he added that he believes a proper arraignment has yet to occur in this case, making all future hearings null or void unless the issue at hand is addressed.
“The US must also respect the rule of law in due time. On my part, I will arraign my client correctly while recognising his human dignity and legal rights,” he said in an email when contacted by Free Malaysia Today.
Regarding Nazir’s state of mind, Bouffard said that the man, who has been incarcerated in solitary confinement for nearly 19 years, is grateful for the world remembering him and others detained.
“He wants a fair trial and to go home to his family in Malaysia as soon as possible. We also deeply appreciate the efforts of the Malaysian government to make this happen,” he said.
A charge sheet uploaded by the US Office of Military Commissions showed that the Malaysians face nine charges and Hambali, eight, in relation to their alleged roles in the terrorist attacks.
All three will be charged with conspiracy, attempted murder, murder, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, terrorism, destruction of property, and attacking civilians and civilian objects, all of which do not carry the death penalty.
The Malaysians were also implicated in an al-Qaeda plot to crash a hijacked plane into the 73-storey US Bank Tower, also known as the Library Tower, in Los Angeles.
Nazir and Farik are described as Hanbali’s top aides in Jemaah Islamiyah, a Southeast Asian militant group affiliated with al-Qaeda.
The Guantanamo case documents also named Hanbali as among those responsible for organising the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US. – The Vibes, January 26, 2022
