NEW YORK, Wednesday
Under heavy guard, a Guantanamo Bay detainee walked into a civilian US courtroom for the first time Wednesday, underscoring the Obama administration’s determination to close the Cuban prison and hold trials here despite Republican alarms about bringing terror suspects to America.
Ahmed Ghailani, a Tanzanian accused in two American Embassy bombings a decade ago, pleaded not guilty — in English — in a brief but historic federal court hearing that transported him from open-ended military detention to the civilian criminal justice system.
Ahmed Ghailani |
Ghailani, accused of being a bombmaker, document forger and aide to Osama bin Laden, was brought to New York to await trial in connection with al-Qaida bombings that killed 224 people — including 12 Americans — at the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.
US marshals took custody of Ghailani from his military jailers and transferred him to a federal lockup in lower Manhattan that currently holds financial swindler Bernard Madoff, and once held mob scion John "Junior" Gotti and blind terror leader Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. Short and slim with a wispy goatee, Ghailani walked into the courtroom without shackles or handcuffs, wearing a blue jail smock. He listened at times through an interpreter but then removed the headphones and appeared to understand what was said in English.
Big Fat Indictment
Asked by the judge if he wanted her to "read this big fat indictment," he conferred with his lawyer, said it was not necessary and made his plea:
"not guilty."
About 10 deputy marshals were in the courtroom, including two who were behind him.
Ghailani’s attorney, Scott L Fenstermaker, declined comment after the hearing.
"We are ready to proceed in the case," declared Assistant US Attorney David Raskin, who said there was "voluminous" evidence to be shared among attorneys.
US District Judge Loretta A Preska acknowledged Ghailani’s US military lawyers, Marine Colonel Jeffrey Colwell and Air Force Maj. Richard Reiter, who were seated in the courtroom but were not representing him at the hearing. "Anything you can do to help him transition to the civilian courts will be greatly appreciated," she said. Ghailani’s trial will be an important test case for Obama’s plan to close the detention center at Guantanamo in seven months and bring some of the terror suspects there to trial.
Attorney General Eric Holder said, "The Justice Department has a long history of securely detaining and successfully prosecuting terror suspects through the criminal justice system, and we will bring that experience to bear in seeking justice in this case."
Though the bombings were a decade ago, "for us, it’s like yesterday,"said Sue Bartley, a Washington-area resident who lost her husband, Julian Leotis Bartley Sr., then US consul general to Kenya, and her son, Julian "Jay" Bartley Jnr.
