Legal boost for 9/11 plot suspects
The chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals said that he is seeking to withdraw one of the eight charges against five men accused of planning and aiding the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Army Brigadier General Mark Martins said he has asked a Pentagon legal official to dismiss the charge of conspiracy to comply with an appeals court ruling in a separate case, but the men will still face charges that include nearly 3,000 counts of murder each and could still get the death penalty if convicted at a trial at the US base in Cuba.
Brig Gen Martins said dropping the conspiracy charge would remove a potential legal challenge to the prosecution of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has portrayed himself as the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and his four co-defendants.
“This action helps ensure the prosecution proceeds undeterred by legal challenge,” he said in a statement.
Lawyers for two of the defendants, Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi and Ammar al-Baluchi, said the decision will make it harder to convict their clients because they, unlike Mohammed, are accused of relatively minor support roles in the terror attacks.
“The withdrawal of the conspiracy charge essentially removes the heart of the body of charges currently pending against Mr al-Hawsawi,” said Navy Commander Walter Ruiz, his military defence lawyer.
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for the defendants later this month at Guantanamo but their trial is likely at least a year away.
Brig Gen Martins submitted his recommendation to the official who oversees the military tribunals for terrorism defendants at Guantanamo who must ultimately approve the decision.
The prosecutor’s recommendation was a response to an appeals court decision in October that threw out the August 2008 conviction by a Guantanamo military tribunal of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden.
He was convicted of providing material support to terrorism, but the court ruled that was not a war crime under international law at the time he engaged in the activity for which he was convicted.
The Justice Department said that the court must also reverse the November 2008 conviction of Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul, who was found guilty of the same charge for producing al-Qaida propaganda.
The September 11 case is much more complex, with the defendants charged with multiple counts for allegedly orchestrating the hijacking of jets that crashed into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The chief prosecutor said the withdrawal of the conspiracy charge removes an issue that could result in legal challenges that would delay the September 11 case.
“There is a clear path forward for legally sustainable charges,” Brig Gen Martins said.
“The remaining charges are well-established violations of the law of war and among the gravest forms of crime recognised by all civilised peoples.”
