9/11 Defendant Condemns Military Tribunal Process

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

FORT MEADE, Md., Oct. 17, 2012 - The self-described mastermind in the 9/11 terrorist attacks condemned the military commissions process today for the second time since the pre-trial hearings for him and four other codefendants began this week.

Army Col. James Pohl, the judge overseeing the case of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four others charged with planning and conducting the 9/11 attacks, gave Mohammed the
opportunity to address the court at Naval Air Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The defendant, wearing a camouflage vest Pohl granted him permission to wear and arriving late for court today after initially electing to skip it, unexpectedly raised his hand during the afternoon session indicating that he wanted to speak.

Pohl called a recess so his defense team could ascertain their client's intention before giving Mohammed the floor.

Speaking through an interpreter, Mohammed accused the U.S. government of using national security concerns as a guise to circumvent a legitimate legal process. He said the prosecution is being subjective about what activities it conducts and information it protects in the interest of national security.

"The president can take someone and throw them in the sea in the name of national security," he said, a reference to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's burial at sea. Mohammed went on to charge that the U.S. government is so focused on the 3,000 people killed on 9/11 that it has justified killing "millions" in the name of national security.

"Your blood is not made out of gold and ours out of water," he charged.

Pohl, clearly not anticipating the tirade, made clear that it won't tolerate others. "This is a one-time occurrence," he told David Nevin, Mohammed's learned counsel, after Mohammed finished speaking.

Pohl emphasized that he would never allow the court proceedings to be disrupted again to allow any of the defendants to express their personal thoughts about how the proceedings are going.
He also underscored that his failure to interrupt Mohammed should not be construed as an endorsement of anything he said.

Mohammed's commentary was the second time this week that he condemned the military commission process. During the first day of pre-trial hearings, he told Pohl, "I don't think there's any justice in this court."

Mohammed's comments came at the end of a day in which only one of the five 9/11 defendants, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, initially elected to attend court. Mohammed skipped yesterday's session and initially opted do the same today. However, he informed the guards that he had changed his mind and appeared in court an hour-and-a-half into today's session.

Three other defendants, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, waived their right to attend today's hearing.

All five of the defendants were captured in Pakistan between 2002 and 2003 and have been confined at Guantanamo Bay since 2006.

They were charged during their arraignment in May with terrorism, conspiracy, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, murder in violation of the law of war, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, hijacking or hazarding a vessel or aircraft.

The third day of their pretrial hearings continued to focus today on the balance between protecting classified information that, if made public, could jeopardize U.S. national security, and the constitutional mandate to make court proceedings public.

Hina Shamsi, representing the American Civil Liberties Union, argued this morning that the proceedings should be open, objecting to measures she called "categorical suppression of information that has largely been made public."

Shami called the closed sessions, and a 40-second delay in the audio feed, an attempt to censor the defendants' testimony about their torture and detention while in U.S. custody, particularly by the CIA.

Later in the day, the court security officer demonstrated how this works, cutting the microphone to Navy Lt. Cdr. Kevin Bogucki, Binalshibh's military counsel, when Bogucki referred to enhanced interrogation methods. As it became clear that Bogucki was speaking in hypothetical terms, the CSO restored the audio and Pohl asked Bogucki to repeat what he had said for the court record.

James Connell, Ali's learned counsel, told Pohl he believes the defense teams has the right and obligation to challenge the classification of information relevant to their cases. He said previous questions to the convening authority about why some information is classified have been met with "silence."

Department of Justice attorney Joanna Baltes argued that protective measures are required so the government can prosecute the case without disclosing classified information that threatens U.S. national security. She said these measures, including the audio delay and soundproof gallery for court observers, are the only reason the sessions can be as open as they are.

Baltes also defended a protective order the prosecution has requested to ensure that the U.S. government is able to prosecute the case without compromising national security interests.

Pohl is expected to rule on a protective order tomorrow.

Pretrial hearing Kick Off For 9/11 Defendants

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

FORT MEADE, Md., Oct. 15, 2012 - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks (seen in the above photo shortly after his arrest), and four co-defendants charged with planning and carrying out the attacks have the right to skip court proceedings regarding their case, Army Col. James Pohl, the judge, ruled today.

Pohl's decision kicked off a week of pretrial hearings that opened today at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The court is expected to address a docket of 25 administrative and legal issues ranging from what defendants can wear in court to measures to prevent classified information from being divulged during the trial.

The judge ruled that Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi can elect not to attend their court proceedings. The caveat, Pohl said, is that they must understand their right to attend and the potential disadvantages of not doing so.

Based on the ruling, the defendants would have the right to submit a waiver request each morning that court convenes, and waivers would cover only that single day. Defendants who change their minds during the day could notify the guard force and attend court if it's possible to get them to the court facility after they make their request.

Mohammed, with a red, henna-dyed beard, wore eyeglasses, white robes, a black vest and white headpiece, sat with his defense counsel in the front row of the courtroom. His co-defendants, also dressed in white, sat quietly behind him, one in each row.

All five defendants were captured in Pakistan in 2002 and 2003 and have been confined at Guantanamo Bay since 2006.

They were charged during their arraignment in May with terrorism, conspiracy, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, murder in violation of the law of war, destruction of property in violation of the law of war, hijacking or hazarding a vessel or aircraft.

Although none answered Pohl's questions during the arraignment in May, the defendants showed more signs of cooperation today. Each responded affirmatively when Pohl asked them individually to confirm that they understood his ruling. Mohammed responded, "Yes, but I don't think there's any justice in this court."

Some of the defendants asked questions to clarify the ruling, and Binalshibh raised concerns about guards who might intentionally misrepresent a defendant's intentions. Several of the accused seemed to be puzzled or even amused when Pohl asked if they understood that their trials would proceed even in the unlikely event that they were no longer in U.S. custody at the time, such as in the event of an escape.

During discussions that dominated today's session, Army Brig. Gen. Mark S. Martins, chief prosecutor in the Office of Military Commissions, argued that the defendants should be required to attend court proceedings, particularly in a capital case. Martins cited legal precedent, saying the accused have the explicit right to be present as their cases are presented, but not necessarily the right to be absent. "Apathy or disdain for the proceedings does not qualify as good cause [for absence]," he said.

James Harrington, Binalshibh's "learned counsel" who is experienced in handling death-penalty cases, disagreed. Harrington said defendants should be able to skip court as long as they acknowledge they have voluntarily waived their right to attend and understand that their cases could suffer as a result. Denying their request not to participate in the legal process could, in fact, violate their constitutional rights, he said.

James Connell, Abdul Aziz Ali's learned counsel, echoed that argument, noting that defendants who don't want to attend court can get removed by disrupting the proceedings. In this case, they are removed from the courtroom to individual holding cells, where the proceedings are piped in through closed-circuit TV. This, Connell said, amounts to a "waiver by conduct."

In other developments during today's hearing, Hawsawi requested additional legal representation through an interpreter. His counsel, Navy Cmdr. Walter Ruiz, a Navy reservist with experience in capital cases, requested Navy Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier as a "resource counsel" to support his legal defense.

Lachelier previously represented bin al Shibh, which Pohl noted could cause a conflict of interest as the two defendants' cases move forward. Both of the accused agreed to waive any objections.

In another motion filed today, Cheryl Bormann, bin Attash's learned counsel, asked for a larger workspace and more resources for his eight-person defense team. A second work area the team had been using was plagued by rodents and mold, but has since been sanitized and declared useable by engineers and industrial health officials at the base, officials said. However, Bormann told Pohl the space is making her staff sick.

The motion hearings originally were slated to begin in August, but were postponed when Tropical Storm Isaac forced the commander to order nonessential personnel to evacuate the base. The proceedings already had been delayed a day after a coal-train derailment near Baltimore damaged fiber-optic lines that carry Internet traffic to and from Guantanamo Bay, including the defense and prosecution teams there.

Pohl said he plans to conduct additional hearings with one-week sessions beginning in December and continuing one per month through March. The tribunals are expected to begin sometime next year.

This week's proceedings are being broadcast via closed-circuit television to a media center here.

Five family members who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks were selected by lottery to attend the proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, as well as five support people to accompany them, officials said. Other families have been invited to watch via closed-circuit TV at Fort Meade, Fort Dix, N.J., Fort Devens, Mass., and Fort Hamilton, N.Y. However, only four family members accepted the invitation, and are watching at Fort Hamilton.

Spectators in the courtroom are sitting behind soundproof glass, and the proceedings are being rebroadcast with a 40-second delay to ensure classified information is not inadvertently revealed.

The Hunt For KSM: Inside The Pursuit And Takedown Of The Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Josua Sinai at the Washington Times offers a good review of Terry McDermott and Josh Meyer's The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

"The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed” by veteran investigative reporters Terry McDermott and Josh Meyer, is a gripping account of how KSM, one of al Qaeda’s most prominent terrorist “entrepreneurs,” played such a crucial role in one of the deadliest terrorist operations in history. It is also a dramatic account of how the decade-long persistence and hard work of FBI and CIA investigators eventually succeeded in tracking and bringing KSM and his associates to justice, although, as described in great detail by the authors, it took a painstakingly long time in their global pursuit to finally identify him, pinpoint his location and roll up much of his network.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/30/book-review-the-hunt-for-ksm/