Military lawyers for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and four alleged coconspirators are arguing that charges against their clients should be dropped following illegal meddling by a Pentagon official.
A motion filed late last week before a U.S. war-crimes tribunal at Guantanamo argues that the case has been tainted by the involvement of the tribunals’ legal adviser, Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, who was removed from another case because he lacked the required neutrality.
The defendants are to be arraigned June 5 at the Guantanamo Bay Navy base in Cuba on charges including conspiracy, hijacking an aircraft and murder. The U.S. is seeking the death penalty for all five men.
In their filing, Pentagon-appointed defense attorneys noted that Hartmann was accused of urging prosecutors to pursue “sexy” cases and directing them to use evidence that a former chief prosecutor said was tainted by coercion.
A judge presiding over the trial of a former driver for Osama bin Laden ousted Hartmann from that case earlier this month, ruling that his instructions to prosecutors suggested that factors “other than those pertaining to the merits of the case” were at play.
In an interview last week, Hartmann told The Associated Press he expected defense lawyers for other detainees to use that ruling as grounds to challenge charges against their clients. But he said he was facing no pressure to resign.
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