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Guantanamo Trial Verdict Angers US Lawmakers

VOA News
18 November 2010

Some powerful lawmakers in the United States are decrying the verdict against the first Guantanamo detainee to face trial in a U.S. civilian court.

Republican Representative Peter King from the state of New York says he is "disgusted" by what he described as a "total miscarriage of justice." King is the ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, and is set to become its chairman in January.

A federal jury in New York Wednesday acquitted Tanzanian Ahmed Ghailani on all but one of the 280 counts against him in connection with the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

Ghailani still faces a maximum life sentence for the lone guilty count of conspiracy to destroy U.S property by means of an explosive device.

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

King and other lawmakers argue that accused terrorists should be treated as wartime enemies and should be tried by military tribunals.

Ghailani was accused of joining in a plot that led to the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. Prosecutors said Ghailani conspired to carry out the attacks by purchasing a truck and gas cylinders. His lawyers did not deny the allegations, but argued that Ghailani had no prior knowledge of the plans of the al-Qaida organizers.

Ghailani's attorney, Peter Quijano, 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 (the Central Intelligence Agency) for two years in Pakistan before being transferred to the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 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.