Post date: Aug 20, 2013 8:10:56 PM
Only one of five defendants accused of being behind the September 11 plot appears at a pre-trial hearing at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base.
GUANTANAMO BAY, U.S. NAVAL BASE, CUBA (AUGUST 20, 2013) (POOL) - A second day of pretrial hearings continued on Tuesday (August 20) in the Guantanamo war crimes tribunal for five prisoners charged with plotting the September 11 attacks.
Only one of the co-defendants, Ramzi Bin al Shibh attended the hearing. He asked to be excused from the proceedings mid-day however, citing that he had issues obtaining food while at court and during meetings with his attorney.He and four co-defendants were transferred in 2006 to Guantanamo, where they are facing conspiracy, murder and other charges in a U.S. war crimes tribunal that could end with their execution.
The five men are accused of being behind the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Prosecutors would like a trial to begin by September 2014, but defense attorneys say it could take them three or more years to prepare their case.