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Defense lawyers say Guantanamo court rigged to deliver death sentence
Source: Reuters
Defense lawyers say Guantanamo court rigged to deliver death sentence
By Jane Sutton
GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba | Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:06pm EDT
(Reuters) - The Pentagon official overseeing the Guantanamo tribunal tried to rig the jury selection process to boost the odds of obtaining a death sentence for a prisoner accused of directing a deadly attack on a U.S. warship, defense lawyers alleged on Thursday.
They asked the judge to drop the charges against Saudi defendant Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, an alleged al Qaeda chieftain who is accused of choosing and supplying the suicide bombers who drove a boat full of explosives into the side of the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen in 2000. The blast killed 17 sailors and wounded dozens more.
The judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, did not rule on the request before a pretrial hearing ended on Thursday at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base.
But he suggested that if there has been an attempt to exert improper influence, the remedy would be to follow regular U.S. court-martial procedures for jury selection rather than dismiss the charges.
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By Jane Sutton
GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba | Thu Jul 19, 2012 7:06pm EDT
(Reuters) - The Pentagon official overseeing the Guantanamo tribunal tried to rig the jury selection process to boost the odds of obtaining a death sentence for a prisoner accused of directing a deadly attack on a U.S. warship, defense lawyers alleged on Thursday.
They asked the judge to drop the charges against Saudi defendant Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, an alleged al Qaeda chieftain who is accused of choosing and supplying the suicide bombers who drove a boat full of explosives into the side of the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen in 2000. The blast killed 17 sailors and wounded dozens more.
The judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, did not rule on the request before a pretrial hearing ended on Thursday at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base.
But he suggested that if there has been an attempt to exert improper influence, the remedy would be to follow regular U.S. court-martial procedures for jury selection rather than dismiss the charges.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/19/us-usa-guantanamo-idUSBRE86I1NZ20120719
