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| Gitmo judge allows confessions ahead of trial |
| 2010-08-11 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] The alleged confessions of the last Westerner held at Guantanamo, who was arrested in Afghanistan at age 15, can be heard at trial, a military judge said late Monday, as the trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday with selection of a jury of at least five military officers out of a pool of 15. Canadian Omar Khadr's lawyer had argued that his statements were made under duress at Bagram Air Base and Guantanamo Bay, as U.S. President Barack Obama's revamped military commissions opened here to consider two terror cases. Khadr, now 23, appeared in the base's $12-million complex known as "Camp Justice" in the final preliminary hearing before his trial. Military Judge Patrick Parrish, who decided to allow Khadr's alleged confessions to feature in the trial, had in April heard testimony from federal agents and military interrogators who acknowledged using techniques such as stress positions and sleep deprivation during Khadr's questioning. One admitted to threatening a rape scenario in order to influence the detainee. "Judge Parrish should go back to school and learn some of the basic principles of law and some humanity," said Khadr's lawyer Denis Edney after the proceedings. "I guess what he said is that it's okay... to threaten him with sexual abuse. That's disgraceful." Also appearing in a separate hearing was Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi, 50, who pleaded guilty last month to conspiring to provide material support to terrorism. The former bodyguard of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was expecting to hear his sentence. The cases are the first to be heard since the tribunals, created by former president George W. Bush, were revamped last year by the Obama administration and Congress to give greater rights to defendants. Khadr, captured at age 15 by U.S. troops in Afghanistan, is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier during a July 2002 battle. He also is alleged to have been trained by al-Qaeda and joined a network organized by bin Laden to make bombs. He appeared in the courtroom in a white detainee uniform, his head lowered, and did not address the judge, instead having his newly appointed U.S. military lawyer speak for him. As recently as last month Khadr, an al-Qaeda operative's son who has denied throwing the grenade that killed an American, said he wanted to represent himself, even expressing his intent to boycott the trial. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 There will be no "Welcome Back, Khadr" for him in Canuckistan. |
| Posted by: Canuckistan sniper 2010-08-11 14:23 |
| #1 I pray they return him to Afghanistan - from 15,000 feet off the back ramp of a C-130, without a parachute, over the most God-forsaken piece of real estate they can find. They need to do the same with any taliban they catch, also. Ending up as buzzard food would be a great deterrent, I believe. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2010-08-11 13:32 |