Sunday, May 11, 2008

9/11 Suspects Unlikely to go to Trial Before End of Bush Presidency: Officials

" ... The commissions process itself has also been delayed by legal challenges, including Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in which the US Supreme Court ruled in June 2006 that the military commissions as then constituted under executive order were illegal under military law and the Geneva Conventions. ... "

By Mike Rosen-Molina
The Jurist

Six Guantanamo Bay detainees charged connection with the Sept.11, 2001 terrorist attacks will probably not be put on trial by the US military before the end of the Bush administration in January 2009, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Officials and watchdog groups cited by the Post noted that the current military tribunal system under which the detainees are to be tried, established by the Military Commissions Act of 2006, is essentially untested and many questions remain regarding the discovery process, defendants' access to classified evidence, and other issues. The commissions process itself has also been delayed by legal challenges, including Hamdan v. Rumsfeld in which the US Supreme Court ruled in June 2006 that the military commissions as then constituted under executive order were illegal under military law and the Geneva Conventions.

So far, the only US military commission to have reached a verdict is that established for Australian David Hicks, who pleaded guilty to a charge of supporting terrorismin March 2007. Fourteen other Guantanamo detainees have been charged with crimes, but none of their cases has yet gone to full trial, although preliminary proceedings are underway in several matters.

http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/05/911-suspects-unlikely-to-go-to-trial.php

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