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Guantanamo prisoner and lawyer boycott trial
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-28 16:16 GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- A Yemeni man accused of being Al-Qaida's former media director and his Pentagon-appointed lawyer refused to talk Monday, but their boycott didn't stop a military judge from beginning Guantanamo's second war crimes trial.
Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, facing a possible life sentence, sat silently at his defense table in a tan prison jumpsuit. His lawyer, Air Force Maj. David Frakt, said al-Bahlul was boycotting Guantanamo's second war-crimes trial because he rejects a military attorney and has been barred from representing himself. Frakt then declared he would also remain silent while in the courtroom in respect of al-Bahlul's wishes. Frakt refused to respond when asked by the judge if he wished to question a pool of 13 potential jurors, all US military officers flown in from other US bases over the weekend. More than half the jury pool told a Marine prosecutor, Maj. Charles Hale, that they had previously served in the military commission process for former Guantanamo detainee David Hicks, who wound up serving a nine-month prison sentence in his native Australia under a plea deal before the case went to trial here. Hale questioned prospective jurors about their previous commission experience or attitudes toward Islam, among other topics. After a recess ordered by the judge, Air Force Col. Ronald Gregory, a panel of nine jurors was finally selected, which included the military officers who were selected for Hicks' case. After the war court session, Frakt told reporters he was disturbed that the list for al-Bahlul's jury included much of the old Hicks panel. "The commissions are under such intense scrutiny," Frakt said during the news conference. "Why create such an obvious additional basis for criticism?" Guantanamo's chief prosecutor, Army Col. Lawrence Morris, said it was "very common in military justice that you will be in front of the same panel" and shrugged off the defense's concerns. A spokeswoman for the commissions, who would only speak to reporters on condition of anonymity, explained that the Pentagon official who oversees the tribunal system, Susan Crawford, picked jury panels from a standing pool of "less than a hundred" active-duty officers. The war-crimes trials, which admit hearsay evidence and testimony obtained under harsh interrogations, have created many critics, including several former Guantanamo prosecutors. Early in the session, Frakt asked Gregory to be allowed to leave in deference to his client's boycott, but the judge said Frakt was obligated to attend the hearings even if he stays silent. "I will be joining Mr. Al-Bahlul's boycott, sitting silently at the table," Frakt responded. Prosecutors plan to introduce up to 31 witnesses for a trial Gregory said would last through this week. The list includes Navy interrogator Robert McFadden, who testified for prosecutors in the case of Osama bin Laden's driver, Salim Hamdan. The trial of Al-Bahlul on charges of conspiracy, supporting terrorism and solicitation to commit murder is the second of the military commission system. The first trial, for former bin Laden driver Hamdan, ended in August with a conviction and a 5 1/2-year sentence. Al-Bahlul said at a pretrial hearing earlier this year that he wanted nothing to do with his trial and would attend only for the announcement of the verdict and sentence. He called the proceedings at this isolated US Navy base a "legal farce." The 39-year-old from Yemen allegedly created a recruiting video glorifying al-Qaida's attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen that killed 17 American sailors in October 2000. He also is accused of arranging for lead September 11 hijacker Mohamed Atta to swear a loyalty oath to bin Laden. Al-Bahlul, who has been held at Guantanamo since 2002, has acknowledged working for bin Laden but said he does not agree that his actions constitute crimes. Eighteen Guantanamo prisoners are currently facing charges. |
