[Ppnews] Saudi detainee refuses to participate in the military tribunal proceedings against him

[Political Prisoner News]

<http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-gitmo10apr10,1,182003.story>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-gitmo10apr10,1,182003.story
 From the Los Angeles Times


Guantanamo defendant calls trial a 'sham'

The Saudi detainee refuses to participate in the 
military tribunal proceedings against him, which 
he calls politically motivated.
By Carol J. Williams
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

April 10, 2008

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA ­ A Saudi prisoner Wednesday 
denounced the war crimes case against him as a 
politically motivated "sham" and had himself 
removed from the courtroom in symbolic protest.

Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza Al-Darbi, whose 
brother-in-law was among the Sept. 11 hijackers, 
informed the military judge hearing his terrorism 
conspiracy case that he wanted neither legal 
representation nor to be present at his trial.

Al-Darbi, 33, has been charged with conspiracy 
and material support for terrorism for allegedly 
training with Al Qaeda and plotting to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Al-Darbi, whose war crimes case is one of seven 
inching their way toward trial by the military 
tribunal at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo 
Bay, has yet to enter a plea and made clear he 
wouldn't be returning for future sessions.

He arrived in court in the white tunic and blue 
canvas shoes denoting a compliant detainee and 
politely told the judge, Army Col. James Pohl, 
that he did not want to be represented by the 
military lawyer assigned to his case nor by any civilian attorney.

"History will record these trials as a scandal," 
Al-Darbi said. "I advise you, the judge, and 
everyone else who is present to not continue with this play, this sham."

Last month, a detainee charged with attempted 
murder in a grenade attack that wounded two U.S. 
national guardsmen in Afghanistan also refused to 
cooperate. Mohammed Jawad, a 23-year-old Afghan 
who had to be dragged from his cell for a March 
12 arraignment, said he would boycott proceedings he considered illegitimate.

Pretrial hearings have begun for two other 
defendants, and three await arraignment, including another one this week.

Prosecutors have announced their intentions to 
try seven other Guantanamo prisoners but have yet 
to serve them with the war crimes charges 
announced as long as two months ago. Among those 
awaiting activation are the capital cases against 
self-professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh 
Mohammed and five others accused of roles in those attacks.

The Army lawyer assigned to defend Al-Darbi, Lt. 
Col. Bryan Broyles, is required by the military 
tribunal's rules to represent the absent defendant anyway.

But Broyles said he would seek guidance from his 
bar association in Kentucky, as well as from the 
Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, on whether 
ethical standards would prohibit his 
representation of a client who doesn't want him.

Broyles faces a dilemma if he is ordered by the 
judge to defend Al-Darbi and advised by legal 
ethicists against an active role. "There's every 
possibility that I'll end up being a potted plant," Broyles said.

In his brief address to Pohl, Al-Darbi repeated 
claims that he had been abused while in U.S. custody in Afghanistan.

Broyles told journalists last month that he'd 
been told by Al-Darbi that an Army 
counterintelligence specialist had beaten him and 
left him hanging from handcuffs during 
interrogations at Bagram air base, north of the 
capital, Kabul. Broyles indicated that any trial 
of his client would probably be bogged down in procedural wrangling for months.

Al-Darbi has never been determined to be an 
unlawful enemy combatant, a necessary step before 
the tribunal can claim jurisdiction in the case.

None of the allegations against Al-Darbi tie him 
to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. His 
brother-in-law, Khalid Almihdhar, was one of the 
five hijackers who commandeered American Airlines 
Flight 77 and plowed it into the Pentagon.

<mailto:carol.williams at latimes.com>carol.williams at latimes.com





Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20080410/0bfcda24/attachment.htm>