Addressing a military court on Thursday, Hambali said Indonesia was well behind countries such as the United States in politics, human rights, legal issues and justice. But no one had been detained for 18 years without trial in Indonesia, he said, according to trial notes seen by FMT.

“Sometimes, I wonder to myself why it takes so long (to settle my trial) because I came to a very advanced nation from a third world country,” he told military Judge Wesley Braun.

Hambali was charged with being the mastermind of the terrorist attacks together with two Malaysians whom he had recruited. The 2002 Bali bombing killed 202 people and another 11 in a second attack in the same city.

He was in court to oppose a motion to replace his US-assigned lead counsel of three years.

He said the move would only cause more delays and disruptions to his case as the new counsel will need time to familiarise himself with the case.

His military attorney, Christina Curl, was appointed by the US government in 2021 but has been reassigned to another US military department since July 8.

Hambali said it will take a lengthy amount of time for any lawyer to sift through and digest additional information on the case which was now available. One or two months would not suffice, he said.

The judge said the military commission will consider Hambali’s appeal and see if the authorities will at least allow Curl to remain as a resource person in Hambali’s legal team while carrying out her new role.

Hambali and two Malaysians, Nazir Lep and Farik Amin, were jointly charged with the Bali bombings in August 2021. However, Nazir, 47, and Farik, 48, entered a guilty plea in January and agreed to testify against Hambali.

In February, they were sentenced to 23 years’ jail each but will serve only five years as part of the plea agreement, which remains secret. Other charges against them were dropped.