THE USS COLE PROCEEDINGS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFESNE
Motions to Resume for Suspect in USS Cole Attack

By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2012 - U.S. military commission proceedings against a suspect in the October 2000 USS Cole bombing and other alleged terrorist attacks are scheduled to resume in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, tomorrow.

Alleged al-Qaida member and Saudi-born Abd al Rahim Hussayn Muhammad al-Nashiri, 46, is accused of being the mastermind behind the bombing of the Navy warship, defense officials said.

Charges against Nashiri also stem from an attempted attack on the USS The Sullivans in January 2000, and an attack on the French-flagged oil tanker Limburg in October 2002.

Nashiri is charged with perfidy, or treachery; murder in violation of the law of war; attempted murder in violation of the law of war; terrorism; conspiracy; intentionally causing serious bodily injury; attacking civilian objects and hazarding a vessel.

The Cole was in Aden, Yemen, for a routine fuel stop when a small watercraft approached the ship's port side and exploded. The bombing killed 17 sailors and wounded 40 others. U.S. officials allege Nashiri was under the supervision of Osama bin Laden, and that bin Laden personally approved the attacks.

The judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl, is expected to hear up to 18 motions from the defense and three from the prosecution over the next three days. The majority of motions from the defense involve disclosure from prosecutors, appearances by expert witnesses and dismissal of the trial, officials said.

The U.S. prosecution's motions concern Nashiri's presence in the courtroom, reducing the amount of the proceedings that are closed as compelled by the defense, and disclosure of the defendant's mental health records.

If convicted, Nashiri could receive the death penalty.






 

NEW DEADLINE SET FOR DEFENSE LAWYERS IN USS COLE CASE

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Judge Sets New Deadline for Nashiri Defense Team

By Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2012 - A military judge has given defense lawyers an extension to May 1 to provide a theory of the case in the United States vs. Abd al-Rahim Hussein Mohammed Abdu al-Nashiri.

Army Col. James Pohl, the trial judge in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, originally set a deadline of April 17.

Nashiri is the alleged mastermind of the terror attack on the USS Cole in October 2000 in the Aden, Yemen, harbor that killed 17 sailors and wounded 39 others.

Defense attorneys asked for a 90-day extension, saying they didn't have time to properly read and evaluate more than 70,000 pages of data by April 17. The government provided the data – both classified and unclassified – to the defense under the rules of the Military Commissions Act.

Defense attorney Navy Cmdr. Stephen Reyes said the effort was delayed for two weeks when classified information was found in the unclassified data.

Pohl gave the defense two extra weeks to submit their theory of the case to him. Submitting the theory of the case is not a required step, but it would be in the interest of the defendant to do so, officials explained. If the defense fails to present the theory by the deadline, the case can still continue.

The judge granted a defense motion to get information from the Yemeni government and denied another that would have required the government to include irrelevant information in discovery documents.

Finally, the judge ordered the defense team to submit a written response on allowing defense counsel Michel Paradis to remain on the case. He set a deadline of May 14 for that response.