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 During a pre-trial hearing in the death penalty case, Army Colonel
Judge James Pohl discussed with the five defendants their right to
be present during the courtroom proceedings.
Each of the defendants said he understood his rights until the judge
asked Ramzi Binalshibh, who is accused of wiring money to September
11 hijackers and passing information to key al Qaeda operatives.
Binalshibh initially said he did not understand, but then started to
complain about his prison cell conditions. He said guards
intentionally made banging sounds that kept him awake at night.
Military officials denied the allegations.
Raising his voice, Binalshibh complained through an interpreter
about "a secret CIA prison," during a hearing at the Guantanamo Bay
U.S. Naval Base in Cuba, which was monitored by Reuters over a
closed-circuit broadcast at the Fort Meade, Maryland, army base.
As Binalshibh continued speaking loudly, Pohl warned: "If you don't
stop talking, you will be escorted out of the court at this time."
The defendant continued to speak and Pohl asked the guards to remove
him from the courtroom. Binalshibh was brought in again after lunch
and, after another exchange with the judge, was ordered out again as
he shouted: "I'm not a war criminal."
It was not the first time Binalshibh had been expelled from the
court. Pohl also ordered him removed during a September hearing
after he refused to stop shouting.
Pohl told Binalshibh's attorney that his client would be allowed
back in the courtroom only if he answered the judge's questions and
was not disruptive.
The U.S. military has identified Binalshibh and the other defendants
as "high-value detainees" who played key roles in plotting the
September 11 attacks, which killed about 3,000 people, destroyed the
World Trade Center in New York City and damaged the Pentagon in
Washington.
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The five defendants are alleged al Qaeda conspirators who could be
executed if convicted of charges that include mass murder, terrorism
and hijacking.
The defendants were captured in 2002 and 2003 and were first charged
at Guantanamo in 2008. The tribunals and the charges were revised by
the Obama administration and the defendants were arraigned on the
current version in May 2012.
Other issues raised during the pre-trial hearing on Tuesday included
requests by defense attorneys to introduce evidence that the
defendants were tortured by their U.S. captors. The defense
attorneys also accused Guantanamo prison officials of interfering
with their clients' rights to private communications with their
lawyers.
Navy Commander Walter Ruiz, defense attorney for Mustafa al-Hawsawi,
said military officials had delayed security clearances for
qualified Arabic interpreters or occasionally provided inadequate
interpretation for defendants trying to communicate with their
lawyers.
He said the problems with interpreters created "interference with
our judgment" as defense attorneys prepared their cases. He
recommended the judge delay further court hearings to help defense
attorneys make up for lost time as they compile evidence.
Al-Hawsawi, 45, is a Saudi Arabian citizen accused of being an
organizer and financier of the September 11 attacks.
(Editing by Scott Malone and Gunna Dickson)
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