|
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (CNN) -- Silence and the odd outburst from accused 9/11 mastermindKhalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others turned an arraignment thatcould have lasted minutes into a 13-hour court session atGuantanamo Bay on Saturday. It was the first appearance in a military courtroom for Mohammedand four others since they were charged last month for theiralleged role in the planning and execution of the September 11,2001, terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. The hearing, which wrapped just before 10:30 p.m., offered a rareglimpse of the five men who have not been seen publicly since 2008when they were first charged by a military tribunal. Mohammed and the others -- Walid Muhammad Salih, Mubarak bin'Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, and Mustafa AhmedAdam al Hawsawi -- appeared to work together to defy the judge'sinstruction, refusing to speak or cooperate with courtroomprotocol. The silence from the defendants -- some ignored the judge andothers appeared to be reading -- slowed the proceedings to a crawl. Bin 'Attash was wheeled into the courtroom in a restraining chair.It was unclear why he was the only defendant brought into court inthat manner, though he was allowed out of restraints after hepromised not to disrupt court proceedings. Toward the end of the day, he took off his shirt while his attorneywas describing injuries she alleged he sustained while in custody. The judge told bin 'Attash, "No!" and warned that he would beremoved from the courtroom if he did not follow directions. At one point, bin 'Attash made a paper airplane and placed it ontop of a microphone. It was removed after a translator complainedabout the sound the paper made against the microphone. The judge, Col. James Pohl, needed the five to vocally confirmtheir desire to be represented by the attorneys who accompaniedthem to court. Because the defendants refused to cooperate, Pohlruled the men would continue to be represented by their currentmilitary and civilian attorneys. All five men are charged with terrorism, hijacking aircraft,conspiracy, murder in violation of the law of war, attackingcivilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causingserious bodily injury and destruction of property in violation ofthe law of war. If convicted, they face the death penalty. There were so many allegations behind the charges, it took morethan two hours for officers of the court just to read into therecord the details of the 9/11 hijackings. Earlier, the refusal of the defendants to speak caused an issuewith the court translations. Mohammed's lawyer said that his client "will decline to communicatewith the court." Because the men wouldn't speak, the judge could not confirm thatthey could hear the translation of the proceedings. Time elapsedwhile they set up loudspeakers in the court to carry thetranslations. Some lawyers objected to this solution, too, andtranslation remained a problem at the outset of the hearing. Pohl said he would enter a not guilty plea on Mohammed's behalf, ifhe refused to enter a plea. Later, the five men chose to deferentering a plea, a routine practice during military courtproceedings. The next hearing is scheduled for June 12. It will likely be atleast a year before the case goes to trial, Pohl said. Hours into Saturday's proceeding, one of the defendants broke hissilence with an outburst. Binalshibh shouted in heavily accented English: "You may not see usanymore," he said. "They are going to kill us." During recesses, the five men talked amongst each other andappeared relaxed. They passed around a copy of The Economist. Binalshibh appeared to lead the group twice in prayer in thecourtroom, once delaying the resumption of the hearing. Mohammed, whose long beard appeared to be dyed red by henna, wasmuch thinner than the last time he was seen publicly in acourtroom. He also appeared much smaller and paler than the man the world cameto know through photos released after his capture in March 2003 inPakistan. The charges allege that the five are "responsible for the planningand execution of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in New York,Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., resulting in the killing of2,976 people," the Defense Department said. The military initially charged Mohammed in 2008, but PresidentBarack Obama stopped the case as part of his effort to close theU.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, a U.S. naval base in Cuba. Unable to close the center, Obama attempted to move the case tofederal court in New York in 2009, only to run into a politicalfirestorm. The plan was dropped after complaints about cost andsecurity. Last April, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the five wouldface a military trial at Guantanamo Bay. The decision was met with some criticism, including from theAmerican Civil Liberties Union. ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said last month that theadministration is making a "terrible mistake by prosecuting themost important terrorism trials of our time in a second-tier systemof justice.". The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as PVC White Card , New Activity Product Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Contacted Smart Card today!
Related Articles -
PVC White Card, New Activity Product Manufacturer,
|
