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 Walid bin Attash, a Yemeni accused of running an al Qaeda camp in
Afghanistan, told his attorneys he no longer trusted them and asked
the court how he might represent himself.
"We have so many problems in the camp that take precedence over
anything we are discussing here in the court,” bin Attash said
through an interpreter before the judge, Army Colonel James Pohl,
silenced him due to security concerns.
After speaking to him in private, bin Attash's lawyer, Cheryl
Bormann, said: "He feels like he has no relief from the torture and
that everything is orchestrated by the United States government
here."
Pohl is awaiting more information from government attorneys before
ruling on bin Attash’s request. Proceedings are scheduled to resume
on Tuesday.
Bormann has complained about violations of attorney-client privilege
at the prison in Cuba. She has cited bugged meeting rooms and an
episode when guards seized legal documents from bin Attash's cell.
Almost 3,000 people were killed when hijackers slammed airliners
into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania
field on Sept. 11, 2001.
Pre-trial hearings for bin Attash and his accused co-conspirators
have been derailed since last year, when defense lawyers learned the
FBI was monitoring them.
Jim Harrington, an attorney for suspect Ramzi Bin al Shibh, revealed
in April 2014 that the FBI had questioned a member of his defense
team. Court proceedings were postponed pending an investigation.
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The results of the investigation were slated to be discussed on
Monday, including whether Harrington will continue to represent Bin
al Shibh.
Navy Commander Gary Ross, a spokesman for the military tribunals,
said in an emailed statement that a judge weighing a
self-representation request had to evaluate whether the defendant
knew of what it entailed and to be sure the suspect was aware of its
consequences.
Pohl "also directed that the defense counsel for Walid bin Attash
needs to explain these aspects to her client before the session
tomorrow," the statement said.
The hearing was held at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base prison in
Cuba. It was monitored over closed-circuit television at a press
room at Fort Meade, outside Washington.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson, editing by David Alexander)
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