Gitmo jury gives bin Laden driver 5 1/2 years

[951-Riverside]

Source: The Associated Press

A military jury sentenced Osama bin Laden's former driver to 5 1/2 years in prison for aiding terrorism Thursday, making him eligible for release in just six months, despite prosecutors' pleas to give him no less than 30 years.

Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni who had faced a maximum sentence of life behind bars, gets credit for five years already served at Guantanamo Bay. He thanked the jurors for the sentence and repeated an apology for having served bin Laden.

"I would like to apologize one more time to all the members and I would like to thank you for what you have done for me," Hamdan told the panel of six U.S. military officers, hand-picked by the Pentagon for the first U.S. war crimes trial in a half century.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080807/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/guantanamo_bin_laden_s_driver

[aquart]

1. But if they acquitted him we would have jailed him for life?

Anyone reading my posts today will realize I am very very very very confused by all this.

Maybe I'm just hoping it will make sense.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. From what I heard, they were saying "no country will take him"

and that was going to be their excuse for imprisoning him indefinitely.

He's from Yemen, so you'd think they'd have to take him; but Bush may be using a dodgy "they'd torture him if we sent him back" excuse. Or, of course, he may say that himself - the Yemeni authorities aren't the kindest bunch in the world.

But my guess is that, with a conviction, the US (and everyone else) would refuse asylum.

But when he finishes the sentence, would they have to give him the run of Guantanamo without locking him up within it (ie no lock on a cell door etc.)? Or can they find an excuse for that too?

[aquart]

13. Well, maybe they can hire him as driver for visiting dignitaries.

Makes for interesting chitchat.

"So you drove for Osama. Did he leave the back seat a mess? Did he sneak a drink from the bar?"

[napi21]

2. Ooooo, I betcha Cheney is PI**ED! He & his cohorts tried sooo hard

to prove they were right, and they "just knew" if they kept these evil people out out of our court system, the military guys would come through for them! HA HA HA HA HA! Go pout in some corner Unka Dick!

[grannie4peace]

20. i like your feistiness!!!

maybe all this shit is gonna come to an end. we have to be ready to help in anyway possible... i enjoy signing petitions & calling all the senators & committees

[Jim__]

3. Does that mean he'll be released in 6 months?

Or can they still hold him for life? You know, sort of cause bush says so.

[CrazyDude]

24. Your interpretation is valid n/t

[The Blue Flower]

4. Good for the panel

It's the dedicated military lawyers who have been the most effective bulwark against these kangaroo tribunals.

[davekriss]

6. Is it just me...

...or does this make a massive mockery of all things Cheney-Bush?? All the gyrations, criminal acts, tortured legal reasonings, hand-picked victims for show trials -- all this boils down to, essentially, time served?

Cheney-Bush should be LAUGHED out of Washington. :rofl:

[TheCoxwain]

7. We managed to convict .. ...eerr .. um... THE DRIVER!!!!!

Thats right .. this should send a unmistakable signal to all those who drive evil men in cars --- How dare they? This should teach them a lesson.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. Maybe we could also find some taxi drivers he used years ago in Riyadh,

or maybe the techs who ran his dialysis machine in Dubai or wherever, and prosecute them too.

[rfranklin]

14. Now they're targeting bin Laden's hairdresser...

His coif is a terror!

[Jackpine Radical]

15. I'd like for them to get the sumbitch

responsible for his beard too. Gad, what a rat's nest!

[mikeytherat]

16. This is true!

mikey_the_rat

[brooklynite]

8. Damn Liberal Judges!

always coddling the criminals...

[Jack Rabbit]

9. That's an awfully stiff sentence for being someone's chauffeur

Somebody get Mr. Cheney a towel. He needs to wipe the egg off his face.

[endarkenment]

11. The jury, considering who they were and how this was run

have done something stunning: they basically have let Hamden off with time served, and even then they convicted him on a charge that, being fairly clearly ex post facto, likely will not withstand an appeal.

From a military justice standpoint I'd say this jury's response to the prosecutions's case was 'bullshit, sir'.

Hamden will continue to be held as he clearly might operate an another automobile with a bad guy in the back seat sometime in the future, and that represents a clear and present danger.

[ckramer]

12. The smartest jury ever

They just don't believe the over-the-top prosecutor.

He's just a freak'in driver!

[ohio2007]

17. He can be released in FIVE months

snip

Salim Hamdan's sentence of 5 1/2 years, including five years and a month already served at Guantanamo Bay, fell far short of the 30 years to life that prosecutors wanted.


snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/guantanamo_bin_laden_s_driver


He can have a hacks license in NYC streets by the "first one hundred days" speech of the next president. He may even be a cabby by the presidential inauguration ??

what a country

[entanglement]

22. LOL,you and your fellow fascists need not be worried: they plan to hold him indefinitely as an enemy

combatant even after he serves his term. The trial was a farce, a sham.

[Overseas]

39. That's the sad truth. Even after he has served his term this criminal administration

may just continue showing us they don't care about the rule of law and hold him longer !!


Edited to change That's the real news to That's the sad truth.

Because I do think it is great news that the driver's term was only 5.5 years, 5 of which is time already served.

There are so many still being held without any indictments.

[Javaman]

18. And the $64,000 dollar question is...

after 5 1/2 years will they still let him go?????

[HughMoran]

19. Nope

He's an "enemy combatent" and he'll be in jail for life (or until a non-ignoramus gets into the WH)

[Politicalboi]

21. I hope he sues

Bush/Cheney. He should go straight to congress and tell his story at Gitmo. I hope the same standards are given if and when Bush/Cheney go to trial. I sure would hate to be the driver of those 2 terrorist.

[samsingh]

23. seems awfully short

[SunDrop23]

25. I feel so much safer now that this monster is behind bars.

:sarcasm:

[LynnTheDem]

26. In FACT, "aiding terrorism" is NOT a war crime.

But then, Gitmo isn't legal, none of this shit is legal, and Americans for the most part don't seem to know nor care. So it ain't likely most will know or care about bogus made-up charges, either.

[dbt]

27. Gitmo Jury bu$h-Slaps The Boy King.

You know Dick (The Dick) Cheney and his flying monkeys were expecting a slam dunk. But they didn't count on a group of people who would actually preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.

:rofl:

[kevinmc]

28. Bin Laden's driver sentenced to 5 1/2 years

Source: Boston.com

With credit, he could be released within months


GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - A military jury imposed a surprisingly lenient sentence of 5 1/2 years on Osama bin Laden's driver yesterday for a war crime that could have brought him a life term.

The sentence - all but about four months of which has been served by Salim Hamdan - appeared to be a rebuke by the six senior military officers who made up the jury of the Bush administration's tribunal for trying terror suspects.

Sleep-derivation was used in interrogations after ban, documents show. A4.

Justice Department lawyer John Murphy had urged the jurors to send the Yemeni to prison for 30 years to life after his conviction Wednesday for providing material support to terrorism. Hamdan was a driver and bodyguard for Al Qaeda.

"Take one second to think of the victims of Mr. Hamdan's support of terrorism," Murphy said in a closing argument that cast Hamdan as a committed extremist and included graphic images of terrorist attacks. "Your sentence will be their justice. Your work is our justice, and you shouldn't flinch from it......"

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/08/08/bin_ladens_driver_sentenced_to_5_12_years/

[tblue]

29. I feel safer already.

[emilyg]

30. He needs to be with his family.

[pansypoo53219]

31. nice legacy georgee.

you got osama been forgotten's chauffeur.

[frog92969]

32. Occasionally we get these signs that America isn't dead yet.

There are still humans in places of power.

[uppityperson]

33. Good. "appeared to be a rebuke by the six senior military officers "

[ingac70]

34. Will Bush's driver get a similar sentence?

Since being the driver for a war criminal apparently makes drivers war criminals as well?

[Buns_of_Fire]

35. Unfortunately...

The judge, Navy Captain Keith J. Allred, had said he would credit the Yemeni defendant with at least five years, meaning Hamdan would be eligible for release soon - if not for the Bush administration's vow to hold all those it has declared "enemy combatants" for the duration of the war on terror.

...which means, basically, forever (or until Shit-fer-Brains' regime is over, whichever comes first).

[Loudmxr]

36. This is just confirming a suspicion I've had over the last few months

I have noticed that the ones who have really slowed down the Bush crazy train have been the military and the intelligence community. Odd isn't it? One would think that would be Congress' job. :shrug:

[legin]

37. What this is about :

The first trial was always going to be the one that got the most publicity.

So the they picked the most non-controversial, easily convict-able, case with a minimal sentence at the end of it.

The meaty stuff, with a few summary executions, comes later.

[legin]

38. It's an advertising thing

When you launch a new product you sell it at a discounted price to get everybody used to it.