Although the suicide bombings of Paddy's Bar and Sari Club on the island resort on October 12, 2002 did not receive much notice in the United States, they remain a painful memory in Australia and Indonesia, which suffered the most casualties.
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Much of the day was devoted to detailed questioning by the military judge over whether they had voluntarily admitted to conspiring with Hambali, Osama bin Laden and others to kill and maim workers and holidaymakers by bombing the two popular social sites. The indictment listed 202 people from 22 countries who died that day, seven of whom were Americans.
The judge, Lt. Col. Wesley A., confirmed that Brown, of the Air Force, also told the defendants that although they may not have personally carried out the bombings, they admit their criminal responsibility as members of an illegal conspiracy.
As part of the petitions, the defendants agreed to an account describing their relationship with Al-Qaeda and the Jemaah Islamiyah movement, and how they said Al-Hanbali encouraged them to go to Afghanistan to obtain firearms and basic military training with Al-Qaeda in 2000.
There, in late 2001, Hambali selected them to participate in a suicide attack that was never carried out against the United States, dubbed Operation martyrdom. They also swore an oath of allegiance to bin Laden, a key element that made them conspirators.
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They did not mention in their appeals that they knew about or participated in the Bali bombings. But they agreed that they were back in Southeast Asia by early 2002 and knew that Hambali was a wanted man before and after the bombing, and helped him evade capture.
Family members of people killed in Bali are arriving at Guantanamo Bay this weekend from the United States and possibly Australia, Britain and Germany for the sentencing phase. Jurors will be brought to the base next week to decide on a sentence less than life.
Neither the narrative nor the pretrial agreements the men reached with prosecutors and a senior Pentagon official last year to protect that information from the military jury have been made public. At Guantánamo, such deals typically included the range of sentences a jury might consider, and perhaps a side agreement about whether they could serve their sentences in their home country.
Under the pre-trial agreements, the men will provide sworn testimony against Hambali if they are returned to Malaysia to serve their sentence and are unavailable to testify at Hambali's trial. Prosecutors have proposed a trial date of 2025.
The prosecution is expected to take testimony through depositions at the end of this week, with the participation of Al-Hanbali's legal team.
This article originally appeared on New York times.
