Court clears way for war crimes trial
Court clears way for war crimes trial

By The Associated Press
Published: July 18, 2008

WASHINGTON — The U.S. can begin trying Osama bin Laden's former driver next week at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, a federal judge ruled Thursday, rejecting the defendant's plea to halt the historic first trial in the military system set up following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

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BACKGROUND

Salim Hamdan was captured at a roadblock in southern Afghanistan in November 2001. He could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of conspiracy and supporting terrorism. The defense says Hamdan was a low-level Osama bin Laden employee, not a hard-core terrorist.

In a victory for the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled that civilian courts should let the military process play out as Congress intended.

The ruling could clear the way for military commissions to begin prosecuting other terrorism suspects, including those who are charged directly in the 2001 attacks.

Had the trial been delayed, as requested by former bin Laden chauffeur Salim Hamdan, it would have been a sign that the entire terror-trial process might crumble under the weight of judicial scrutiny.

Hamdan argued that he should be given a chance to challenge the legality of the military trials, based on last month's Supreme Court ruling that said Guantanamo Bay prisoners can oppose their detentions in federal civilian courts. If judges hold that to be the case, every detainee at the U.S. naval base in Cuba could use court challenges to delay his trial for months or years.

But Robertson refused to step in to stop the Hamdan trial, which is scheduled for Monday.