First Guantanamo War Crimes Trial Goes to Jury
By Associated Press | August 4, 2008
http://www.nysun.com/national/jury-deliberates-in-first-guantanamo-bay-war/83152/
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ShareGUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — A jury is deliberating the verdict for Osama bin Laden's former driver at the first Guantanamo war crimes trial.
JANET HAMLIN/AP
A courtroom sketch of jurors watching a video of an interrogation of defendant Salim Hamdan, shown as part of his trial, inside the courthouse at Camp Justice, the legal complex of the U.S. Military Commissions, at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba on July 23.
Four of the six military officers in the jury must agree for a conviction of Salim Hamdan on charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism.
Mr. Hamdan, a Yemeni, faces a maximum life sentence. His case is the first full test of the Bush administration's system for prosecuting alleged terrorists.
Prosecutors said in closing arguments today that Mr. Hamdan provided the terrorist leader aid and protection that helped make possible the September 11, 2011 attacks.
But defense attorneys say he was just a low-level bin Laden employee who never joined Al Qaeda's conspiracy against America.
