Africa

Home page

Africa

Top Lawmaker: More Civilian Trials Â«Highly UnlikelyÂ» for Terror Suspects

19 November 2010 03:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. A leading U.S. senator predicts it is highly unlikely more terror suspects will be tried in U.S. civilian courts, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

Independent Senator Joe Lieberman told VOA Thursday the acquittal of the first Guantanamo detainee to face trial in a U.S. civilian court on 279 out of 280 charges is close to, in his words, â€œa death knellâ€ for the Obama administrationâ€™s approach.

Lieberman â€” who heads the Senateâ€™s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee â€” also said the verdict will make it almost impossible to shut down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A federal jury in New York convicted Tanzanian Ahmed Ghailani on just one count Wednesday in connection with the deadly 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

The charge â€” conspiracy to destroy U.S property by means of an explosive device â€” carries a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.

Human Rights Watch defended the verdict Thursday, telling VOA it showed the independence and thoughtfulness of U.S. juries.

Human Rights Watch Washington Director Tom Malinowski said the verdict was a win for the U.S. government, given the likely severity of the sentence. He also cautioned that a military tribunal likely would have reached the same conclusion as a result of new procedures that have been put in place.

Prosecutors alleged Ghailani purchased a truck and gas cylinders used in the embassy bombings. More than 200 people, including 12 Americans, died in the attacks.

Earlier, Republican Representative Peter King said he was â€œdisgustedâ€ by the verdict, describing it as a â€œtotal miscarriage of justice.â€ King is the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, and is set to become its chairman in January.

King previously has promised to hold hearings on the way the Obama administration is handling terrorism-related trials.

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer told VOA Thursday she thinks the Ghailani verdict may prompt prosecutors to try more terror suspects using military tribunals. But she said she supported whichever type of trial â€“ civilian or military â€“ was more likely to get a rightful conviction.

Ghailaniâ€™s attorney said the defense will appeal the conviction on the single count. He said Ghailani should be given credit for the time he has served since his capture six years ago in Pakistan.

Ghailani was held by the CIA for two years in Pakistan before being transferred to the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Last year, the decision was made to bring him to New York City to be tried.

His lawyers allege he was tortured while in CIA custody.