JURIST - Paper Chase: Australian Gitmo detainee military trial delayed

[JURIST] The military commission trial of Australian David Hicks [advocacy website], who has been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] for more than 3 1/2 years, was postponed on Monday by a US district judge until the US Supreme Court [official website] rules on the legality of such military tribunals. US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly [official profile] granted Hicks' motion to delay the proceedings in light of the Supreme Court's recent decision to grant certiorari [JURIST report] in Hamdan v. Rumsfield, a case which will determine whether President Bush [official website] has the constitutional power to create the military commissions that will be used to try Guantanamo prisoners for war crimes. Human rights groups and military defense lawyers have criticized the rules of the commission, arguing that they abandon settled principles of national and international law by allowing evidence obtained through torture and hearsay and fail to permit an independent appellate review. The Pentagon argues that the rules will provide for full and fair trials. Read Judge Kollar-Kotelly's memorandum opinion [PDF] and order [PDF]. Reuters has more.

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Topic: Military Tribunals | Op-ed: Justice at Guantanamo? The Paradox of David Hicks

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