Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
April 11, 2008
Pg. 18
By William Glaberson
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — A Sudanese man on Thursday became the latest detainee to present perplexing challenges to the military commissions here, refusing to accept any American lawyer, saying he would boycott court proceedings and delivering a rambling attack on the proposed trials. A military defense lawyer suggested the man might be mentally unstable.
The detainee, Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi, used his arraignment to say that Osama bin Laden “has succeeded immensely,” adding, “The whole world had a headache, from your hypocrisy that you are the land of justice.”
Mr. Qosi called the military commissions here sham courts that “move at the pace of a turtle in order to gain some time and keep us in these boxes without any human or legal rights.”
The proceeding was the latest here to raise questions about how the war crimes cases will proceed as some detainees reject American lawyers, refuse to participate and show signs of psychological problems that detainee advocates say are byproducts of years in captivity.
Mr. Qosi was the third detainee to say in recent weeks he planned to boycott the war crimes court. The boycotts and decisions by some detainees to refuse to work with military defense lawyers are among a host of issues that are slowing proceedings here. Few trials may be completed before the end of the Bush administration in January, some lawyers have said.
In Mr. Qosi’s case, the questions raised by Thursday’s proceeding include who will defend him and whether the military defense lawyer assigned to him can press her concerns about his stability against his wishes.
The lawyer, Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier, said he appeared “very distressed, frantic almost” when she met him for the first time in a holding pen just before the hearing. Commander Lachelier asked the judge to have him evaluated “before he makes any statements.”
But Mr. Qosi debated her in court.
“I am not in any disturbed state,” he said, adding that he had been waiting years to have his say.
After cutting him off and then reversing herself, the judge, Lt. Col. Nancy J. Paul of the Air Force, allowed him to complete reading a written statement he had taken with him to the courtroom on a hillside overlooking Guantánamo Bay.
Mr. Qosi, 47, is charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism. The charges say he was a driver and bodyguard for Mr. bin Laden. In the past, American officials have described him as a Qaeda accountant and paymaster.
Commander Lachelier said guards had told her Mr. Qosi refused to meet her. She said she had been prevented from visiting him at his cell to try to win his trust and asked the judge to permit such a visit.
Judge Paul declined, saying security rules were set by military officials.
After Mr. Qosi was led out of the courtroom, Judge Paul directed Commander Lachelier to represent him even though he had said he wanted no lawyer.
The directive was the latest here to raise questions about whether legal ethics rules allow lawyers to put on a defense for detainees who say explicitly they want to boycott the proceedings.
Commander Lachelier said she wanted time to consult ethics rules in California and Virginia, where she is admitted to the bar.
She told Judge Paul that because Mr. Qosi had been shackled, hooded and disoriented, she questioned whether his decisions to boycott future proceedings and reject her as his lawyer were voluntary.
April 11, 2008
Pg. 18
By William Glaberson
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — A Sudanese man on Thursday became the latest detainee to present perplexing challenges to the military commissions here, refusing to accept any American lawyer, saying he would boycott court proceedings and delivering a rambling attack on the proposed trials. A military defense lawyer suggested the man might be mentally unstable.
The detainee, Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi, used his arraignment to say that Osama bin Laden “has succeeded immensely,” adding, “The whole world had a headache, from your hypocrisy that you are the land of justice.”
Mr. Qosi called the military commissions here sham courts that “move at the pace of a turtle in order to gain some time and keep us in these boxes without any human or legal rights.”
The proceeding was the latest here to raise questions about how the war crimes cases will proceed as some detainees reject American lawyers, refuse to participate and show signs of psychological problems that detainee advocates say are byproducts of years in captivity.
Mr. Qosi was the third detainee to say in recent weeks he planned to boycott the war crimes court. The boycotts and decisions by some detainees to refuse to work with military defense lawyers are among a host of issues that are slowing proceedings here. Few trials may be completed before the end of the Bush administration in January, some lawyers have said.
In Mr. Qosi’s case, the questions raised by Thursday’s proceeding include who will defend him and whether the military defense lawyer assigned to him can press her concerns about his stability against his wishes.
The lawyer, Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier, said he appeared “very distressed, frantic almost” when she met him for the first time in a holding pen just before the hearing. Commander Lachelier asked the judge to have him evaluated “before he makes any statements.”
But Mr. Qosi debated her in court.
“I am not in any disturbed state,” he said, adding that he had been waiting years to have his say.
After cutting him off and then reversing herself, the judge, Lt. Col. Nancy J. Paul of the Air Force, allowed him to complete reading a written statement he had taken with him to the courtroom on a hillside overlooking Guantánamo Bay.
Mr. Qosi, 47, is charged with conspiracy and providing material support for terrorism. The charges say he was a driver and bodyguard for Mr. bin Laden. In the past, American officials have described him as a Qaeda accountant and paymaster.
Commander Lachelier said guards had told her Mr. Qosi refused to meet her. She said she had been prevented from visiting him at his cell to try to win his trust and asked the judge to permit such a visit.
Judge Paul declined, saying security rules were set by military officials.
After Mr. Qosi was led out of the courtroom, Judge Paul directed Commander Lachelier to represent him even though he had said he wanted no lawyer.
The directive was the latest here to raise questions about whether legal ethics rules allow lawyers to put on a defense for detainees who say explicitly they want to boycott the proceedings.
Commander Lachelier said she wanted time to consult ethics rules in California and Virginia, where she is admitted to the bar.
She told Judge Paul that because Mr. Qosi had been shackled, hooded and disoriented, she questioned whether his decisions to boycott future proceedings and reject her as his lawyer were voluntary.