KSM, 4 Other Gitmo Detainees, to be Tried in N.Y. Federal Court
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ('KSM'), the reputed al Qaeda plotter of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, will be put on trial in federal court in Manhattan, one site of the Sept. 11th attacks, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced this morning.
Four other Guantanamo Bay detainees -- Walid Muhammed Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, Ramzi Bin Al Shibh, Ali Abdul-Aziz Ali, and Mustafa Ahmed Al Hawsawi -- will also be tried in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Not only will KSM still face prosecution in the SDNY for his reputed role in the 9/11 attacks, but he is likely to also face outstanding charges in a secret 1996 indictment for his alleged role in the 1994 'Bojinka' plot -- described by the 9/11 Commission as "the intended bombing of 12 U.S. commercial jumbo jets over the Pacific during a two-day span."
Prosecutors are likely to face defense challenges over KSM's waterboarding while he is was in U.S. Custody. But according to National Public Radio's Dina Temple-Raston, "he actually admitted before being tortured that he was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks."
Defense attorneys for KSM, and for other accused 9/11 terror detainees, are sure to put up a legal fight over any detainee confessions allegedly obtained using extreme measures, torture, or interrogations conducted under "extraordinary rendition," i.e., having harsh interrogations of detainees conducted in other countries with the assets of foreign governments.
You can listen to Temple-Raston's analysis by clicking here
Related Resources:
- Terror-Related Cases, FindLaw
- Pre-9/11 Terrorism Cases, FindLaw
- The 911 Attack vs. The U.S.S. Cole Bombing, FindLaw (Nov. 13, 2009)
- 9/11 Suspects to be Tried in New York, Reuters (Nov. 13, 2009)
- Accused 9/11 Mastermind to Face Civil Trial in New York, New York Times (Nov. 13, 2009)
- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
Photo credits: I.R.C., U.S. Military