JURIST - Paper Chase: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed defense lawyers move to dismiss charges

[JURIST] US military defense lawyers filed a motion Friday to dismiss charges against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], the alleged director of the Sept. 11 attacks [JURIST news archive], and his four co-conspirators. The motion alleges that the charges were unduly influenced by "overreaching" on the part of US Air Force Reserve Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann [Air Force profile], who was disqualified [JURIST report] last week from participating in a military commission trial. Hartmann's neutrality and objectivity concerning the trials were questioned because of his close association with the prosecution. Reuters has more. The Los Angeles Times has additional coverage.

Mohammed's military defense lawyer, US Navy Capt. Prescott Prince, expressed concern [JURIST report] about the fairness of Mohammed's trial in an April interview with CNN. The chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] military commissions, US Army Col. Lawrence Morris, said that the trials of Mohammed and the other Sept. 11 suspects would be broadcast [JURIST report] live on closed-circuit television to several military bases so that the victims' families could watch. The men face death penalty charges, but US Attorney General Michael Mukasey [JURIST news archive] said in March that executing the Sept. 11 suspects would make them martyrs [JURIST report].

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