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6 Oct, 2010 16:26

First civilian trial for Guantanamo detainee to start in the US

The first civilian trial for a former detainee of the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay is due to start in New York.

Ahmed Ghailani is accused of helping al-Qaeda militants carry out the 1998 bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, which left 224 people dead.He's the first Guantanamo detainee to be transferred into the US civilian justice system.“The entire world is going to be watching the trial. One concern is whether this trial will lead to an increase of terrorism. For me, the terrorist response is not to the trial, it is to the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, the US bases in the Persian Gulf, it is to Israeli occupation of Palestine. If the US and Europe want to end attacks on the US and Europe they have to end the way they treat the Islamic world. The issue is not this trial – the issue is basic US and Western European involvement in the way it is in Islamic world,” Dr. Alan Singer, Director of Social Studies at Hofstra University, told RT.Lawyer Eric Montavalo, who specializes in these types of cases, said in this case it’s hard to predicts’ the court’s decision.“What’s going on with regard to the delay – the government has had him in custody for over 6 years, they’ve had plenty of time to get their case together and on the eve of the trial to have one of their seminal components of their case be inconsideration for suppression,” Montalvo told RT. “This is just an embarrassment to the entire process. It’s unclear what the judges are going to do, I think, if they do wind up suppressing the information… there is a very valid argument for that.”

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