Court Day for Alleged 9/11 Mastermind

[unhappycamper]

Court Day for Alleged 9/11 Mastermind
June 05, 2008
Associated Press

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - The military expects a confrontational hearing today when the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and four alleged confederates are brought before a Marine colonel presiding over their war-crimes tribunal.

At an arraignment scheduled for June 5, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was expected to make his first public appearance since being captured in Pakistan in 2003, held in CIA custody at secret sites and transferred to Guantanamo in 2006.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Tom Hartmann, a top tribunal official, told dozens of journalists late June 4 he expects defense lawyers will robustly argue points with prosecutors and Judge Ralph Kohlmann on behalf of their clients, who face the death penalty.

"Expect to see challenges tomorrow, and the intensity of the process," Hartmann said at a briefing in an abandoned aircraft hangar near the courthouse at this isolated U.S. Navy base.

Army Col. Steve David, chief defense counsel for the tribunals, said the military commissions - which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in 2006 as unconstitutional before they were altered and resurrected months later - are "fundamentally flawed."


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/court-day-for-alleged-911-mastermind.html