Decks Are Stacked in War Crimes Cases, Lawyers Say
By WILLIAM GLABERSON
New York Times
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba, Nov. 8 — The administration’s problem-plagued military commission system started up here again Thursday, but it began with contentious new claims that the war crimes cases are unfairly stacked against detainees.
Military defense lawyers said that on the eve of the hearing, military prosecutors told them for the first time of a government witness who might be able to help a detainee, Omar Ahmed Khadr, counter the war crimes charges on which he was arraigned Thursday.
Mr. Khadr, the only Canadian detainee at Guantánamo, has been held here since he was 16. He is now 21.
“It is an eyewitness the government has always known about,” said Lt. Cmdr. William C. Kuebler of the Navy, Mr. Khadr’s chief military lawyer, who questioned why the military was only now informing the defense. Mr. Khadr is charged with the murder of an American soldier, spying, material support for terrorism and other charges.
In court, military prosecutors accomplished one of their goals after a long delay in the commission cases by completing the new arraignment for Mr. Khadr. It was the first arraignment since all Guantánamo war crimes cases were stalled by legal rulings against the prosecutors in June that were later overturned.
Thursday’s proceedings were important for Bush administration officials, who are frustrated at the pace of the Guantánamo war crimes cases, which have repeatedly been halted by practical difficulties and court rulings.
(Continued here.)
New York Times
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba, Nov. 8 — The administration’s problem-plagued military commission system started up here again Thursday, but it began with contentious new claims that the war crimes cases are unfairly stacked against detainees.
Military defense lawyers said that on the eve of the hearing, military prosecutors told them for the first time of a government witness who might be able to help a detainee, Omar Ahmed Khadr, counter the war crimes charges on which he was arraigned Thursday.
Mr. Khadr, the only Canadian detainee at Guantánamo, has been held here since he was 16. He is now 21.
“It is an eyewitness the government has always known about,” said Lt. Cmdr. William C. Kuebler of the Navy, Mr. Khadr’s chief military lawyer, who questioned why the military was only now informing the defense. Mr. Khadr is charged with the murder of an American soldier, spying, material support for terrorism and other charges.
In court, military prosecutors accomplished one of their goals after a long delay in the commission cases by completing the new arraignment for Mr. Khadr. It was the first arraignment since all Guantánamo war crimes cases were stalled by legal rulings against the prosecutors in June that were later overturned.
Thursday’s proceedings were important for Bush administration officials, who are frustrated at the pace of the Guantánamo war crimes cases, which have repeatedly been halted by practical difficulties and court rulings.
(Continued here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home