VIDEO: Military Commissions Hearing: Coerced testimony

By GottaLaff

The Senate Armed Services Committee held hearings July 7 on legal issues regarding military commissions and the trial of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Military Commissions allow coerced testimony and hearsay upon hearsay to bolster their prosecution cases, which is what happened to Fayiz al-Kandari, Lt. Col. Barry Wingard's client. Please follow that link to read every post I've written on this.

Then read Jane Mayer's book, The Dark Side. Then call your representatives and the White House. This is not justice, this is more of the same.

Obama Gitmo order rebuffed, the sequel

By GottaLaff

Original post here:

The chief judge at the Guantanamo Bay war crimes court Thursday rejected President Obama's call to halt the prosecution of terrorism suspects, ruling that a delay in the case of a Saudi accused in the Cole attack would "not serve the interests of justice."

Many of us were asking if the judge had legal standing to do that. It turns out, he does, because President Obama said "please":

Legal scholars and Pentagon officials said Pohl's ruling was not insubordination because Obama's proposal was a request, not an order.

Pohl pointed out that the rules for military commissions adopted by Congress in 2006 gave the military judges "sole authority" to grant delays once charges had been referred for trial.

"Technically, it's within the judge's discretion to treat this as a request or a motion on the part of the prosecutors and the government," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. "We like to think that even military judges are independent, to some extent, of the commander in chief."

Fair enough. However #1:

"But given the clear message in the executive orders of last week, it's difficult to understand why that request wouldn't be granted," Tobias added. "If the issue is really forced, the judge would probably have to yield."

But... and there's always a but... BushCo is still depositing their piddle stains all over the place:

"Judge Pohl's decision to unabashedly move forward in the Al Nashiri military commission case shows how officials held over from the Bush administration are exploiting ambiguities in President Obama's executive order as a strategy to undercut the president's unequivocal promise to shut down Guantanamo and end the military commissions," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

However #2:

The top official in the tribunal, former Pentagon judge and Bush appointee Susan J. Crawford, has the authority to step in and drop the capital charges against Nashiri, said his Navy defense lawyer, Lt. Cmdr. Stephen Reyes. [...]

A Pentagon spokesman insisted that Obama's call for a halt in the proceedings would be honored.

"The Department of Defense is currently reviewing Judge Pohl's ruling. We will be in compliance with the president's orders regarding Guantanamo," said Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey D. Gordon, a public affairs officer.

The Howevers have it. The Bush Buts (pun intended) lose.

Obama Gitmo order rebuffed

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: In the daily briefing just now, Robert Gibbs said that all of the others were stayed, and that they're working on consultation on the case (below) that was.

First the Republicans rebuff President Obama, and now a military judge does the same:

U.S. military officials confirm that a military judge at Guantanamo Bay has refused the Obama administration's request to suspend the military commission proceedings for one of the detainees for 120 days.

The judge is presiding over the case of Abd Al Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi accused in the October 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole that killed 17 American sailors. The officials could not immediately comment on why the judge refused to suspend the proceedings.

This only pertains to the one case.

Gitmo captive asks Obama to close prison camps

By GottaLaff

Habeas Corpses:

A Saudi captive accused of plotting an ill-fated al Qaeda terror attack waved a picture of Barack Obama at the war court Monday and urged the president-elect to make good on his promise to close the prison camps here.

Ahmad al Darbi, 33, delivered the message in a near whisper, displaying little of the showmanship of other defendants.

But the timing was significant: His was the last military commission hearing before the eve of Obama's inauguration. The court closed for the holidays and doesn't have a new hearing scheduled until Jan. 19.

''I hope this location will be closed as he promised,'' said Darbi, waving a copy of an American Civil Liberties Union poster with a pensive Obama and his campaign's closure pledge on it. ``He will earn back the legitimacy the United States has lost as a world leader.''

Darbi, the brother-in-law of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers, is accused of plotting a never-realized attack on an unnamed ship in the Strait of Hormuz. He also allegedly met with Osama bin Laden and trained at an al Qaeda camp. Conviction as an al Qaeda conspirator could bring life imprisonment.

Defense lawyers argue the father of two, whose family is in Yemen, was tortured in U.S. military custody, and that the government case relies on up to 119 self-incriminating statements.

Self-incriminating statements from torture victims are as reliable as press conference statements from President [sic] Bush.