FT. MEADE — Guantanamo Bay’s most dangerous inmates were back in a military court on Monday to learn if they will face a death penalty trial in September 2014, some 13 years after they allegedly played a key role in orchestrating the largest terror attack on American soil.
Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and several co-conspirators faced U.S. military judge Col. James Pohl during a military commission at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba, where the inmates have been locked up for more than a decade.
Pohl is officiating over a largely procedural weeklong pretrial hearing meant to clear up roadblocks that have prevented the terrorists from standing trial on charges of terrorism and the murder of nearly 3,000 Americans. Journalists were permitted to watch the hearing via CCTV at Ft. Meade.
U.S. prosecutors are looking to take the case to trial next year, while the defense has sought to slow down the proceedings and publicly delve into how the inmates were treated during their incarceration in secret CIA prisons.
The government’s push to speed up the trial is part of a larger effort by the Obama administration to either try the remaining inmates or release them so that Guantanamo can be fully shut down.
The defense has argued that they have not been given enough access and time to review unclassified documents that could help them build their defense.
Part of the delay has centered on the defense’s hesitance to sign memorandums of understanding that will govern their use of classified documents. They are asking the judge to determine this week if information produced outside of the government must be treated as classified.
Defense lawyers further maintain that they have not been given reams of evidence regarding the inmates’ detention at secret CIA facilities.
"The CIA and (Defense Department) have revealed far more information about what happened during that time to the makers of 'Zero Dark Thirty' than they've revealed to us," defense attorney James Connell was quoted as saying on Sunday by Reuters.
The government is said to have provided "approximately 185,000 pages of unclassified discovery to defense counsel for each accused, so that the accused may meaningfully confront the charges against them," chief prosecutor Mark Martins told reporters on Sunday.
Much of Monday morning’s arguments focused on the finer points of inmate Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi’s interrogations with CIA and Defense Department officials.
The defense is seeking to determine that a translator should have been present during the interrogations, despite the Saudi national’s ability to speak English.
FBI Special Agent James Fitzgerald defended his interrogation tactics under questioning, claiming that al Hawsawi "had a friendly demeanor" and engaged in "normal conversation."
Al Hawsawi never asked for a translator to be present during the interrogation, Fitzgerald maintained, pushing back against the defense attorney’s claims that the alleged terrorist did not understand the legal circumstances of the situation.
Al Hawsawi is alleged to have played a key role in planning the 9/11 attacks, including researching flight schools for the hijackers. He was transferred to Guantanamo in 2006, after spending several years in a remote CIA prison.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the most prominent of the accused, is believed to have been a close confidant of Osama bin Laden. Mohammed is accused of being the lead planner of the attack.
As hearings in the case continue to drag on, the families of 9/11 victims have become increasingly frustrated, prompting prosecutor Martins to address the issue on Sunday.
"We understand that justice cannot come too soon," he said. "No one feels the frustration as you do, and yet you remain committed to the pursuit of a sustainable justice under law, however long that takes. We appreciate your abiding commitment, and admire your grace and dignity, in the face of heartbreaking losses."