Military jury reaches verdict at Guantanamo trial

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-06 22:33

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE - A military jury reached a verdict Wednesday in the first Guantanamo war crimes trial.

A sketch by a courtroom artist shows Osama bin Laden's driver Salim Hamdan (L) at the Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base July 24, 2008, as FBI agent Craig Donnachie (R) testifies about his interrogations of Hamdan regarding a picture of disguised US agents. [Agencies]

A spokeswoman for the military tribunals said the panel of six American military officers will soon deliver the decision in the case against Osama bin Laden's former driver.

Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni, faced up to a life sentence if convicted of consipiracy or supporting terrorism after the 10-day trial, which provided the first demonstration of a special tribunal system for prosecuting alleged terrorists.

Four of the six officers on the jury must agree on a conviction, according to the system's rules.

Defense lawyers feared a guilty verdict was inevitable.

The rules of the tribunal system at the US Navy base appeared designed to achieve convictions, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, Salim Hamdan's Pentagon-appointed attorney.

"I don't know if the panel can render fair what has already happened," Mizer told reporters as the jury deliberated.

Hamdan's attorneys said the judge allowed evidence that would not have been admitted by any civilian or military US court, and that interrogations at the center of the government's case were tainted by coercive tactics, including sleep deprivation and solitary confinement.

Supporters of the tribunals said the Bush administration's system provided extraordinary due process rights for defendants.

"This military judge is to be commended for providing a fair and internationally legally sufficient trial for the accused and the government - regardless of the ultimate verdict," said Charles "Cully" Stimson, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs.

Hamdan was captured at a roadblock in southern Afghanistan in November 2001 and taken to Guantanamo in May 2002.

The military accused him of transporting missiles for al-Qaida and helping bin Laden escape US retribution following the Sept. 11 attacks by driving him around Afghanistan. Defense attorneys said he was merely a low-level bin Laden employee.