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Alleged 9/11 mastermind requests the death penalty in GTMO arraignment

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this Reuters story, the "accused al Qaeda mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks stood in a U.S. military court on Thursday, sang a chant of praise to Allah and said he would welcome the death penalty."  Here are more details:"This is what I wish, to be martyred," Pakistani captive Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the highest-ranking al Qaeda operative in U.S. custody, told the Guantanamo war crimes court.  He and four accused co-conspirators appeared in court at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba for the first time on charges that could result in their execution.As the judge questioned him about whether he was satisfied with the U.S. military lawyer appointed to defend him, Mohammed stood and began to sing in Arabic, cheerfully pausing to translate his own words into English...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on June 05, 2008 (boomark / email).