New York - The first detainee from Guantanamo Bay who was transferred to the United States is to go on trial in September 2010, a New York federal court judge said Thursday. But the court failed to set a new date for the next hearing of Ahmed Ghailani's case, as defense lawyers argued for more time to prepare.
In addition to the defence lawyers' unpreparedness, Judge Lewis Kaplan said the US Department of Justice has not yet indicated whether it would seek the death penalty for Ghailani, who was implicated in the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which killed more than 200 people.
Ghailani, the first former Guantanamo detainee to be tried in the United States under the Obama administration's new policy, was already indicted and tried by a US military court. He denied he belonged to the al-Qaeda network responsible for September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Defense lawyers Greg Cooper and Peter Qijano argued for a six- month delay so they can plough through 900 boxes of documents related to the case. They also need security clearance from the US government to study the documents, but have not yet obtained it.
The uncertainty of whether the death penalty will be applied and the huge volume of highly classified documents have hampered preparations for the case, both Copper and Qijano said.
Two military lawyers, appointed to defend Ghailani in the first trial at Guantanamo also have not been cleared by the Defence Department to work in a civilian court.
Kaplan, who conducted a hearing on June 16, said the US government has failed to tell him whether it would seek the death penalty and various other legal submissions related to Ghailani.
"This case has been tried before," Kaplan said. "The crime has taken place more than a decade ago and the victims' families need an answer."
Ghailani, dressed in black overalls over dark orange prison garb, appeared in court, but remained silent during the session at which government prosecutors said they would provide documents sought by the defence as early as next week.
Ghailani had already been indicted in the killings of 224 people. He now faces a total of 286 criminal counts, including conspiring with Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to kill Americans anywhere in the world. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 20 years to life in prison, or possible execution. He pleaded not guilty to the counts when he was taken before Kaplan in early June.
Ghailani was captured in Pakistan in 2004 and detained at a secret location by the US Central Intelligence Agency before he was sent to Guantanamo in September 2006.
