October 6, 2010 - 3:59 PM | by: Rick Leventhal
Prosecutors got off to a rough start in the first civilian trial of a Guantanamo Bay detainee, being held in the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan.
Before jury selection was even complete, U.S District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled a key witness can't testify against alleged U.S. Embassy bomber Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani.
Ghailani's defense attorneys argued the feds learned of the witness during questioning by the CIA in a secret jail overseas, where they used "enhanced interrogation techniques" -- which defense attorneys call "torture".
"This case will be tried upon lawful evidence, not torture, not coercion" Defense Attorney Peter Quijano declared outside the courthouse. "For our system of justice to work, the 5th amendment must apply to Ghailani as much as to any other defendant before the bar of justice."
In his ruling, Judge Lewis Kaplan said "The court has not reached this conclusion lightly. It is acutely aware of the perilous nature of the world in which we live. But the Constitution is the rock upon which our nation rests. We must follow it not only when it is convenient but when fear and danger beckon in a different direction. To do less would diminish us and undermine the foundation upon which we stand."
The bombings of the two U.S. Embassies in East Africa in 1998 were widely viewed as Al Qaeda's precursor to 9/11. 224 people were killed, including a dozen Americans. Hundreds more were wounded.
Ghailani is alleged to have played a key role in the attacks, scouting locations, buying explosives and one of the trucks, even bringing one of the suicide bombers to the site.
A day before the attacks Ghailani is said to have fled to Pakistan and soon after, he allegedly became Usama Bin Laden's cook, then his bodyguard and later a document forger.
When he was caught in 2004, the CIA moved Ghailani to one of their so called "black sites" overseas. That's where defense attorneys say he was tortured to reveal the source of the explosives. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is still defending the decision to try Ghailani in civilian rather than military court.
"Courts have shown an ability to handle these kinds of cases over the years" Holder said. "I don't think there is any reason to doubt that we can successfully do that in the future."
Ghailani's case has been delayed until next Tuesday while prosecutors decide whether to appeal the Judge's ruling, but federal officials say even if Ghailani isn't convicted of the bombings, he can still be held as an enemy combatant for as long as America is at war with Al Qaeda.
Read more:
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/10...
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Wednesday, October 6th 2010 at 6:20PM
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