FORT MEADE, Md. — Walid bin Attash, an accused organizer of the 9/11 attacks, requested Tuesday that Judge Lt. Army Col. James Pohl review a letter he wrote explaining why he doesn’t trust his American lawyers and wants them removed from the case.
The request was made on the first day of a pre-trial hearing for five al-Qaida members before a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They are accused of being the leaders of the 9/11 attacks in which about 3,000 people were killed in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
After years of delay, and a suspension last October, U.S. vs. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed et al resumed at 9 a.m.Tuesday and was simulcast to this Army post outside Washington, D.C.
The hearing for five al-Qaida members in United States vs. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who are accused of being the leaders of the 9/11 attacks in which about 3,000 people were killed, resumed Tuesday after a suspension last October and years of delay. It was simulcast to Fort Meade Army post outside Washington.
Bin Attash, who is accused of training the 9/11 hijackers, was captured with an alleged co-conspirator in 2003 and along with a co-conspirator, sent to a suspected CIA facility near Kabul, Afghanistan, known as "the dark prison." He was later moved to The Dark Prison in Afghanistan and shipped to Guantanamo Bay to where he awaits trial.
Bin Attash said Tuesday that his attorneys, Cheryl Bormann and former Air Force Maj. Capt. Mike Schwartz, have "become the enemy." He said the lawyers could be working with the U.S. government against him. Bin Attash's suspicion stemmed from a secret FBI investigation in 2014 that found leaks compromising attorney-client confidentiality.
The Yemeni citizen said the letter he wrote a letter to the judge that he said clarifies misleading information presented to the judge by his counsel. But he did not want his attorneys to present the note to the judge.
"We have a major problem," bin Attash said, through an interpreter. "How can we get in touch with a judge directly as long as I do not trust the lawyer?"
Pohl initially hesitated to accept the letter, noting that it is not in proper legal form.
"It's not my job to take your paperwork, put it in a legal format, then rule whether or not my legal analysis is correct," the judge said.
Pohl initially hesitated to accept the note, saying that if bin Attash is going to have lawyers as opposed to representing himself, he, as judge, can't conduct legal analysis on bin Attash's behalf.
"I understand you come from a different culture," Pohl said, "but the system of law that we apply is the one set up by the president and the Congress, and that's how we're going to try it."
Pohl ultimately decided to suspend courtroom activity until Wednesday to allow for the translation of the correspondence so he could review it to determine next steps in bin Attash's legal representation before the military commission.
