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'9/11 mastermind' to wear fatigues at Guantanamo trial
Self-declared 9/11 criminal mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be allowed to wear military-style camouflage at his Guantanamo Bay trial, a military judge ruled Tuesday.What KSM and four alleged co-conspirators will wear when they eventually appear before a military tribunal has been disputed in pre-trial hearings, but his defense argued that he had the right to choose military garb. "Mr. Mohammed is a enjugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! enemy prisoner of war. He wanted to wear the same type of uniform he wore while fighting for the US-supported Mujahedeen in Afghanistan and in Bosnia," argued military lawyer Captain Jason Wright. The defense also said it would argue that the defendants had not been, as the prosecution alleges, "unlawful combatants" but soldiers and thus denying them the right to military-style clothing would undermine his case. Prosecutors argued that KSM should not be allowed to wear a uniform for security reasons, but the military judge, Colonel James Pohl, dismissed this concern at the pre-trial hearing. "Look around the room. How many guards are here?" he said. "I'm not going to forbid the camouflage vest unless it is a US army uniform. The only prohibition -- the accused cannot wear clothing inconsistent with his confinement status." Posted by: Fred 2012-10-18 |
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