9/11 Accused's Lawyers Ask To Halt Military Tribunals

9/11 accused's lawyers ask to halt military tribunals

http://rawstory.com/news/afp/9_11_ac..._09122009.html

9/12/2009

Lawyers for Ramzie ben al-Shaibah, one of five men accused of masterminding the September 11, 2001 attacks, have asked a federal appeals court to halt all judicial proceedings at a detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

They also have asked the appeals court in Washington to invalidate special military tribunals set up by the administration of former president George W. Bush to try terrorism cases.

"Not only is the Military Commissions Act unconstitutional on its face but the proceedings themselves have been 'irregular' in every sense," the lawyers argued in their filing.

"In fact they have been a travesty of justice, a 'system' - in the military judge's own words - 'in which uncertainty is the norm and where the rules appear random and indiscriminate'".

Ben al-Shaibah is set to appear before a military judicial hearing on September 21.