9/11 Hearing Reveals What "Justice" Means ... Gitmo Style

Posted by Joshua Holland, AlterNet at 2:23 PM on July 16, 2009.

They're kangaroo courts, even with the minimal legal protections Obama ushered in ...

The latest:

Scenes of chaos have gripped a US military court in Guantanamo Bay where five alleged 9/11 plotters were due to appear together before a judge.

All five, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, initially refused to attend the hearing.

The judge rejected prosecution calls for them to be compelled to attend but three did appear after a recess...

But [Mustafa Ahmad] Hawsawi asked to leave again after he was refused the opportunity to speak.

He was escorted out by US military guards.Mr Bin Attash asked the judge whether he could question a witness.

When told he could not, he asked: "Even if he told lies?"

When the judge again insisted he could not question the witness, Mr Bin Attash replied: "This is good justice!"

The US military lawyer representing Mr Binalshibh said he suffered from a delusional disorder.

When the lawyer went into detail about how he had been deprived of sleep, her microphone was cut off.

Remember that these suspects -- and they're just suspects, of course -- enjoy significantly more legal protections than those held indefinitely without charge at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan. A prison-wide protest has been going on there for 2 weeks.

Tagged as: 9/11, obama, war on terror, guantanamo, military tribunals, bagram

Joshua Holland is an editor and senior writer at AlterNet.