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June 10, 2009
Gitmo Prisoner Becomes First To Go To US Court
Gitmo prisoner becomes first to go to US court
The first Guantanamo Bay detainee to be transferred to US soil was due in court in New York Tuesday in a politically charged test for President Barack Obama's plan to close the controversial prison. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian national who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility since September 2006, was to be arraigned in a federal court in New York at 4:00 pm (2000 GMT).
He is charged with taking part in the August 7, 1998 bombing of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya.
This is a first test for White House plans to shut down Guantanamo and bring inmates to trial or send them to their countries of origin.
The pledge was a major element in Obama's presidential campaign last year, along with an order to end officially sanctioned torture. Republicans have attacked the Democrat for what they say is a dangerous priority on human rights over national security.
But Attorney General Eric Holder said the transfer of Ghailani served justice and posed no threat to the United States.
"With his appearance in federal court today, Ahmed Ghailani is being held accountable for his alleged role in the bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and the murder of 224 people," Holder said in a statement.
"The Justice Department has a long history of securely detaining and successfully prosecuting terror suspects through the criminal justice system, and we will bring that experience to bear in seeking justice in this case," Holder said. Ghailani faces 286 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder, bomb and maim, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against US nationals, charges for which he could receive the death penalty.
Ghailani faces 286 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder, bomb and maim, and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against US nationals, charges for which he could receive the death penalty.
According to the indictment from March 2001, Ghailani also conspired with Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other Qaeda members to kill Americans.
The Guantanamo detention center still houses about 240 so-called "war on terror" inmates, most of whom have been detained since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Obama wants the facility closed by January 2010.
First Gitmo inmate in US court pleads not guilty
NEW YORK
Under heavy guard, a Guantanamo Bay detainee walked into a civilian U.S. courtroom for the first time Tuesday, underscoring the Obama administration's determination to close the Cuban prison and hold trials here despite Republican alarms about bringing terror suspects to America.
Ahmed Ghailani, a Tanzanian accused in two American Embassy bombings a decade ago, pleaded not guilty — in English — in a brief but historic federal court hearing that transported him from open-ended military detention to the civilian criminal justice system.
"Not guilty" answered Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, when Federal Court Judge Loretta Preska asked how he pleaded.
President Barack Obama has said keeping Ghailani from coming to the United States "would prevent his trial and conviction." Taking a drastically different stance, House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio labeled Tuesday's move "the first step in the Democrats' plan to import terrorists into America."
Ghailani, accused of being a bomb-maker, document forger and aide to Osama bin Laden, was brought to New York to await trial in connection with al-Qaida bombings that killed 224 people — including 12 Americans — at the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.
U.S. marshals took custody of Ghailani from his military jailers and transferred him to a federal lockup in lower Manhattan that currently holds financial swindler Bernard Madoff, and once held mob scion John "Junior" Gotti and blind terror leader Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman.
The White House declined to say whether Ghailani would be released if cleared by the court.
"I'm not going to get into hypotheticals," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. "Let's discuss that if it ever comes to fruition."
Wild Thing's comment.......
Soon the Liberals will be screaming for the judge to allow him bail and the ACLU and CAIR leading the way.
Posted by Wild Thing at June 10, 2009 05:47 AM
Comments
Also what happens if he is aquitted and released, then what. Especially in New York nobody has a gun, readily available. How long will it take him to link up with a Terrorist camp in the U.S.
Obama is signing our death warrant.
Posted by: Mark at June 10, 2009 09:07 AM
Street Justice, Dr Tiller!!!
Posted by: Jack at June 10, 2009 10:59 AM
Would't surprise me if he ends up with an ankle bracelet and a social security check. He can then live in public housing with Obama's illegal aunt.
Posted by: TomR at June 10, 2009 11:50 AM
I thought they held war crimes in The Hague in the Netherlands. Have I missed something? Why is he here? He should be there. Why does he deserve a fair trial? Did he give those 244 people a fair trial or a second chance? No. So why even give him the option? I'm so mad I could just spit.
Posted by: Lynn at June 10, 2009 02:11 PM
Maybe he will accidentally walk the plank on his way to U.S. shores. At the same time the Culinary Specialists are feeding the sharks.
Posted by: jim at June 10, 2009 04:39 PM
Even if we prove, he was the bomb maker and the forger for the operation how closely do we have to link him to the crimes to get a conviction? New York courts do convict get-away drivers in liquor store holdup shootings but they do not convict the garage mechanic and the person providing fake ID's gets away with a relative slap on the wrist.
If he is convicted of forging papers used in felony murder how long, will he be in? Will he get credit for time served? Will he be out for next year's elections or not until the 2012 elections?
He is a young man and Muslims are good hunter-killer-thieves, very good at waiting. Will they sign a peace treaty, get him and all other terrorist out, honor it for the maximum duration that the Koran prescribes (ten years) and then have him back here killing another 244 Americans. The answer is no! When Muslims have infidel/pigeons, they never give them the honor of keeping their word even as long as the Koran allows.
I am of the opinion that Obama is not nearly as bright as the media thinks but this would take such a bonehead that the intent has to be malevolent.
Posted by: Avitar at June 10, 2009 05:04 PM
Kill his ass...VERY slowly. OR give him to "Burtha Butts" for a 5 year "face sit". (sorry Chrissie)
Posted by: Steve, Vengence is Mine, Sayeth the Marine Corps at June 10, 2009 07:15 PM
You all are awesome, I am very lucky
to know all of you. This stuff is very
scary to me.
And Steve, Vengence is Mine, Sayeth the Marine Corps,I can beat that. Peel the terrorist
skin off very thin slices then pour hot sauce
on him. I bet he would rather be waterboarded
after he hears our ideas. hahaha
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 11, 2009 12:10 AM
