An Australian tourist looks at the monument to bombing victims in Bali, Indonesia. Photo / AAP
An Australian tourist looks at the monument to bombing victims in Bali, Indonesia. Photo / AAP
Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against a Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of orchestrating the deadly 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 88 Australians.
The Indonesian detainee known by the single name Hambali was notified last week that prosecutors are preparing to try him before a military commission atthe US base in Cuba on charges that include terrorism and murder in violation of the law of war.
He is accused of conspiring with leaders of al-Qaeda in a series of attacks, including the bombings in Bali in October 2002 that killed 202 people.
A Pentagon legal official known as the convening authority must still approve the charges before the case can proceed to an arraignment.
Marine Corps Brigadier General John Baker, the chief defence counsel, said in an email that he was notified that prosecutors do not intend to seek the death penalty even though some of the charges are potentially capital offences.
Baker said he would be submitting a request for additional resources to "effectively represent" Hambali but the decision to not seek the death penalty means he will not have to find experienced capital lawyers who are typically civilians.
Hambali, 53, whose full name is Encep Nurjamen has been held by the CIA and subjected to what the US Government has called its "enhanced" interrogation programme.
He is accused of being the "operational mastermind" of the Southeast Asia-based Islamic extremist group known as Jemaah Islamiyah, an affiliate of al-Qaeda.
Charging documents provided to the AP allege he orchestrated the Bali bombings as well as an August 2003 attack on the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta, which killed 11 people, and other plots. Hambali is one of 41 prisoners still held at Guantanamo.
