Bali bomb case starts in Guantanamo

NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA >> Three prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center had their first day in court Monday after being held by the U.S. for 18 years without charge in connection with the deadly 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and other plots in Southeast Asia.

Indonesian prisoner Encep Nurjaman, known as Hambali, and two Malaysians started their arraignment before a military commission in a nearly five-hour hearing at the U.S. base in Cuba, facing charges that include murder, conspiracy and terrorism.

Slowed by problems with the courtroom interpreters, the military commission was unable to finish the long-delayed arraignment and it was expected to resume Tuesday.

The war crimes tribunal for the three faces many of the same issues that have caused other Guantanamo cases to languish for years, including evidence tainted by CIA torture, as well as the challenges posed by the men’s prolonged imprisonment without charge.