A defense attorney for a Canadian teenager accused of killing a U.S. soldier
in Afghanistan asked the judge on Wednesday to halt proceedings because of a
lack of established rules for the military trials.
In this
photograph of a drawing by AP sketch artist Janet Hamlin, reviewed
by U.S. Military officials, Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr , left,
sits alongside his defense team, left to right, Muneer Ahmad, Rick
Wilson, Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, and Army Capt. John Merriam, as
Vokey addresses the robed presiding officer Marine Col. Robert
Chester, during a hearing inside the Military Commission, at
Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba, Wednesday, April 5, 2006.
Shouting and table banging punctuated the hearing for Khadr, a
Canadian accused of killing an American soldier in Afhanistan, as
the judge and a defense attorney clashed about rules for the
proceedings. [AP] | |
"Sir, you should halt these proceedings ... until the government gets the
rules together," said Army Capt. John Merriam, an attorney for Omar Khadr, 19.
Shouting and table banging punctuated Wednesday's hearing at this isolated
U.S. military base as the judge, Marine Col. Robert S. Chester, and another of
Khadr's defense attorneys clashed over the lack of rules for the first military
tribunals since the World War II era.
Chester said he would rule on Merriam's request to halt proceedings after he
has read relevant material delivered by the defense.
Early in the session, Khadr said he was boycotting the proceedings because he
has been kept in solitary confinement since March 30. Chester berated the
defense attorney, Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, for not having warned him earlier
of the situation.
As the voices grew louder, Vokey banged his hand on a varnished wood table
and shouted that he hadn't had an opportunity to alert the judge.
"Every time we come down here there is an incredible burden just to do my
job," Vokey shouted. Chester then called a recess.
Late Wednesday, Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand issued a statement saying no
detainees at Guantanamo Bay are put in solitary confinement but adding that
detainees "in a pre-trial status are separated" from the general population.
Khadr was moved to a cell alone in a higher-security area for his own protection
but still can see and talk to other inmates on his tier, Durand told The
Associated Press.
Vokey and the judge also clashed about trial procedures to bring in a
Canadian consulting attorney requested by the Toronto-born Khadr, who was 15
when he was captured.
Chester asked Vokey if he had filed a brief requesting a Canadian attorney as
a consultant. Only lawyers who are U.S. citizens are permitted to directly
participate. The judge then told Vokey that even if a brief was filed, he didn't
know if he had the authority to allow a Canadian attorney into the courtroom.
"There are no rules here," Vokey retorted. "It seems kind of crazy, if the
presiding officer doesn't have the authority to act on it, to go to the
presiding officer."
In a separate hearing Tuesday, Chester refused to say if he would use
international law, or military law or federal statutes as guidelines. The chief
military prosecutor, Air Force Col. Morris Davis, later said the judge can use
several standards of law "to provide a full and fair trial."
Khadr has been charged with murder, attempted murder, aiding the enemy and
conspiracy for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. Special Forces
soldier while fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan and for planting mines
targeted at American convoys.
Chester said the issue of Khadr's solitary confinement would be addressed
later in the week.
"We cannot stop these proceedings every time the accused doesn't like what he
had for breakfast or doesn't like his confinement," said a military prosecutor,
who cannot be identified under military ground rules to journalists.
Khadr, who has a sparse beard and was dressed in a blue checked shirt, khaki
pants and Reebok sneakers, remained in the courtroom as the pretrial hearing
continued.
Khadr is accused of killing Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, 28, of
Albuquerque, N.M., and wounding Army Sgt. Layne Morris, of West Jordan, Utah in
the August 2002 firefight.
The wounded soldier and Speer's widow filed a civil lawsuit against Khadr and
his father, a suspected al-Qaida financier who authorities believe was killed in
Pakistan. In February, a judge awarded them $102.6 million in their suit, though
they have been unable to collect the judgment and the family's assets are
unknown.
Nearly 500 detainees are held at this U.S. military base in southeastern
Cuba. The U.S. has filed charges against 10 of them.