Letters show Malaysian terrorist has shed hardline religious views

 

Farik Amin has been in solitary confinement at Guantanamo, Cuba, since 2003 following his involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

PETALING JAYA: Farik Amin, one of the two Malaysians jailed at the Guantanamo detention centre in Cuba for terrorism, is believed to have shed his hardline religious views based on letters to his legal team.

Farik had written letters to his legal team to explain his absence at meetings to discuss his case. The letters were subsequently tendered as evidence during mitigation before his sentencing last Saturday.

His counsel, Christine Funk, who read the letters out in court, also said a doctor’s report had recorded that Farik’s concept of jihad – which some have taken to mean a holy war – has also evolved.

“The report said he now thinks jihad less as an external or potentially violent event and more as an internal struggle to purify one’s heart and do good work.

“The doctor said his desire to catch up with his life, to pay his respects and provide service to his parents, and to hopefully marry and have children of his own speaks of someone who is looking to build, not destroy,” Funk told the court when asking the five-man jury for clemency.

Her comments were recorded in trial notes posted on the military court website on Wednesday.

In another letter, Farik appeared to acknowledge that there are some similarities among different faiths in how they perceive God.

Such comments indicate that the probability of him being re-radicalised was low, she said.

The court also heard that Farik had developed complex post-traumatic stress disorder, exacerbated by the ambiguous grief that stems from his ongoing confinement under challenging circumstances.

Farik and co-accused Nazir Lep have been in solitary confinement since their arrest in 2003.

They were sentenced to 23 years each in jail after they pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the Bali bombings in 2002 which killed 202 people.

However, they will only have to serve five years following a pre-trial agreement reached with the US government.

According to the agreement, they may be allowed to serve part of the sentence in a third country, although the period and location were not specified.

The trial judge later clarified that the panel could recommend clemency but it would not be part of the sentence. Instead, it would be taken up by the US government for consideration later. - FMT