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: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Alleged 9/11 conspirators ask to plead guilty at Guantanamo military commission hearing

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

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[JURIST] Five Guantanamo Bay detainees, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self proclaimed architect of the 9/11 attacks, indicated at a military commission pre-trial hearing on Monday that they wished to plead guilty to the charges against them. The judge, Army Col. Stephen Henley, read a letter from the defendants out loud in court that said they wanted to plead guilty and drop all defense motions, but did not indicate whether they would confess to specific acts. Four of the five defendants, including Mohammed, agreed to the statements in the letter, and the fifth remained to be questioned by the judge. Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement Monday calling for "a full and thorough factual inquiry to determine whether or not these pleas are voluntary." Henley was assigned to the Mohammed trial last month, following the retirement of Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann. The Pentagon approved death penalty charges against Mohammed and the four other suspects in May, and they were arraigned in June. In February, CIA Director Michael Hayden publicly acknowledged that Mohammed had been subjected to waterboarding during interrogation.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 08, 2008 (boomark / email).