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Military commissions overseer orders charges dropped in last Guantanamo trial

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

[JURIST] Convening authority of military commissions Susan Crawford announced Thursday that the Pentagon has formally dropped charges against suspected USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahimal al-Nashiri. Crawford's order ends the last active military commission trial, complying with President Barack Obama's executive order mandating a reprieve of the prosecution of all cases at the Guantanamo Bay military prison. The announcement that the charges against al-Nashiri would be dropped ended a conflict between the Obama administration and several US military personnel, created last week when Army Col. James Pohl rejected the request of government prosecutors to delay the proceedings against al-Nashiri. Earlier on Thursday, Pohl announced that he would rule on Monday regarding a motion concerning measures to limit al-Nashiri's ability to see and hear at his military tribunal, despite Obama's executive order. Crawford's decision to drop charges effectively supersedes the necessity for Pohl to make such a ruling. Al-Nashiri was accused of terrorism, attempted murder, and providing material support to terrorism for his alleged role in planning the 2000 al Qaeda attack on the USS Cole. He was charged in June under the Military Commissions Act of 2006. He would have faced the death penalty if found guilty at his military commission hearing.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on February 06, 2009 (boomark / email).