[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Sign-in] [Mail] [Setup] [Help]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
|
Ron Paul See other Ron Paul Articles Title: DOD considers delay in 9/11 tribunal GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba -- The military trial of the accused 9/11 co-conspirators likely will not begin until early 2015, nearly a year after the highly anticipated terrorism trial was slated to begin. Defense attorneys representing alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other co-defendants claim their clients will not see trial until 2016, due to legal wrangling over classified information on the CIA's interrogation program. The delay could throw a big wrench into President Obama's plans to shutter the military tribunal and the detainee prison in Guantanamo Bay by the end of his final term. The initial September, 2014, trial start date proposed by chief prosecutor Brig. Gen. Mark Martins was based on previous tribunal hearings held at the Guantanamo Bay commissions. On Friday, Martins proposed a new timeline for the proceedings, calling for all pretrial hearings to wrap up by spring, with jury selection slated for January, 2015.That said, "I am anticipating an early 2015" start date, Martins told reporters after the most recent round of pretrial hearings concluded on Friday. "I think that is reachable," he added.However, the final call on when the trial will begin is up to Army Judge Col. James Pohl, who could rule in December, at the earliest, when the next round of pretrial motions are slated to begin. During Friday's pretrial hearings, Martins said his proposed timelime represented an "appropriate set of marks on the wall . . . and seek appropriate closure" to the 9/11 case. U.S. prosecutors requested moving the 9/11 trial start date for 2015 to avoid overlap with a second tribunal hearing for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Both tribunals had been originally expected to begin in September. 2014. Al-Nashiri is accused of masterminding the 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen. He is currently being held in the military detention center in Cuba. Army spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Breasseale declined to speculate as to when the 9/11 trial will begin. "The calculus that determines these dates weighs the position of both the prosecution and defense counsel," he told the Hill on Wednesday. But James Connell, lead attorney for Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said the trial likely won’t start until 2016, due to the legal wrangling over what classified information can be admitted into the tribunal. The prosecution claims that pretrial motions concerning the admission of classified information could wrap up by January. However, that timeline hinges upon whether Pohl will allow the defense teams to call witnesses into court to discuss certain classified issues related to the case. If Pohl denies the defense teams' witnesses request, tribunal officials will be able to hit that January timeline. Should Pohl grant the defense's request, the pretrial hearings on admission of classified details could stretch well into February, according to Connell. Martins declined to comment specifically on how rulings on potential witnesses could affect the spring timeline to end the pretrial portion of the hearing. However, the one-star general did tell The Hill that the outstanding pretrial motions and jury selection process can "absolutely be managed" in order to hit the new 2015 estimated trial date. Should Pohl adopt the prosecution's new trial timeline, the trial start date will coincide with the end of Obama's final term in office. That is when the White House plans to have the tribunal and terror detainee prisons in Guantanamo closed for good. President Obama promised to close Guantánamo during his 2008 campaign, and in one of his first moves as president, issued a directive for it to be closed. "I think it is critical for us to understand that Guantánamo is not necessary to keep America safe," Obama said during a press conference in April. "It is expensive. It is inefficient ... It lessens cooperation with our allies on counterterrorism efforts," the president added. "It is a recruitment tool for extremists [and] it needs to be closed." Since then, administration officials have opted to try recently captured terrorists suspects in civilian court, including senior al Qaeda commander Abu Abas al-Libi and Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the son-in-law of al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden. Most recently, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last Tuesday appointed a new point person to close the Guantánamo Bay prison. The Obama administration named Paul Lewis, a congressional lawyer, as special envoy for closing Guantánamo. He will start in the position Nov. 1. Lewis joins Clifford Sloan, who was named as the State Department’s Guantánamo envoy in June. The two will lead the administration's efforts to close the detention facility. Lewis will be tasked with facilitating transfers out of Guantánamo, as well as overseeing the transfer of detainees held by the United States in Afghanistan. He is currently minority general counsel for the House Armed Services Committee, where he works on Guantánamo-related issues. But the president's efforts shutter Guantanamo is running into repeated opposition from Congress, where lawmakers objected to moving prisoners to the United States. Read more: thehill.com/blogs/defcon-...-and-strategy/330815-dod- considers-trial-date-delay-in-911-tribunal-#ixzz2j0x8rSsq Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Ada, 4 (#0)
Sulaiman: Solomon ------- "They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC
9-11 was an inside job. The dancing Israelis are proof enough. ;) "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one." Edmund Burke
|
||
|
[Home]
[Headlines]
[Latest Articles]
[Latest Comments]
[Post]
[Sign-in]
[Mail]
[Setup]
[Help]
|
||