A military jury has just convicted Osama bin Laden’s former driver, Salim Hamdan, a Yemini, in the first Guantanamo war crimes trial – facing up to a life sentence. He was tried on charges of conspiracy and supporting terrorism in the 10-day trial.
The trial provided the first demonstration of a special tribunal system for prosecuting alleged terrorists. A panel of six American military officers reached the decision.
Hamdan was captured at a roadblock in Afghanistan in November 2001 and taken to Guantanamo.
The military accused him of transporting missiles for al-Qaida and helping bin Laden escape U.S. retribution following the Sept. 11 attacks. Defense attorneys said he was merely a low-level bin Laden employee.
The military jury, in a split verdict, cleared Hamdan on some counts, but convicted him on others that could still send him to prison for life.
(Source: WNBC / Associated Press)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
It actually proves very little, since he didn’t deny being a driver/bodyguard, and the partial acquittal acknowledged that was all he was. Hitler’s driver/bodyguard was held slightly longer
that most German POWs captured by the western allies, but not as long as those captured by the Soviets, but was never charged as a war criminal. The US undermines its credibility by treating a semi-literate driver as if he was a major criminal. No one so minor was ever prosecuted for war crimes after World War II. Bush would have been better to declare him a de facto POW, and leave him locked up for the duration of hostilities.