9/11 suspects face a lengthy legal battle
Source: Agencies |
May 6, 2012, Sunday
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THE self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11 attacks and four accused co-conspirators appeared in public for the first time in more than three years yesterday, when US officials started a second attempt at what is likely to be a drawn-out legal battle that could lead to the men's executions.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants were being arraigned at a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba on charges that include 2,976 counts of murder for the worst terrorist attack on US soil.
The hearing quickly bogged down before they could be arraigned. One prisoner, Walid bin Attash, was put in a restraint chair for unspecified reasons, lawyers for all defendants complained that the prisoners were prevented from wearing the civilian clothes of their choice and Mohammed refused to respond to questions.
Mohammed's civilian lawyer, David Nevin, said he believed Mohammed was not responding because he believes the tribunal is unfair. The judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, warned that he would not permit defendants to block the hearing and would continue without his participation.
"One cannot choose not to participate and frustrate the normal course of business," Pohl told the defendants.
In the past, during the failed first effort to prosecute them at the US base in Cuba, Mohammed has mocked the tribunal and said he and his co-defendants would plead guilty and welcome execution.
But there were signs that at least some of the defense teams were preparing for a lengthy fight, planning challenges of the military tribunals and the secrecy that shrouds the case.
The arraignment is "only the beginning of a trial that will take years to complete, followed by years of appellate review," attorney James Connell, who represents defendant Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, told reporters gathered at the base to observe the hearing.
Lawyers for the men said they were prohibited by secrecy rules from disclosing the intentions of their clients.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-defendants were being arraigned at a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba on charges that include 2,976 counts of murder for the worst terrorist attack on US soil.
The hearing quickly bogged down before they could be arraigned. One prisoner, Walid bin Attash, was put in a restraint chair for unspecified reasons, lawyers for all defendants complained that the prisoners were prevented from wearing the civilian clothes of their choice and Mohammed refused to respond to questions.
Mohammed's civilian lawyer, David Nevin, said he believed Mohammed was not responding because he believes the tribunal is unfair. The judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, warned that he would not permit defendants to block the hearing and would continue without his participation.
"One cannot choose not to participate and frustrate the normal course of business," Pohl told the defendants.
In the past, during the failed first effort to prosecute them at the US base in Cuba, Mohammed has mocked the tribunal and said he and his co-defendants would plead guilty and welcome execution.
But there were signs that at least some of the defense teams were preparing for a lengthy fight, planning challenges of the military tribunals and the secrecy that shrouds the case.
The arraignment is "only the beginning of a trial that will take years to complete, followed by years of appellate review," attorney James Connell, who represents defendant Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, told reporters gathered at the base to observe the hearing.
Lawyers for the men said they were prohibited by secrecy rules from disclosing the intentions of their clients.
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