Posted by Orin Kerr:
"Wait a moment. We're supposed to haggle.":
It seems that one of the detainees being tried at Guantanamo, Ali
Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al-Bahlul, [1]wants to admit he is a member of
Al-Qaeda and doesn't want a lawyer to help him.
Mr. Bahlul at one point asked not to be interrupted. He declared
that there was no evidence as important as a confession given
freely and that everyone in the courtroom and around the globe
should know that he was speaking without being forced.
He then said: "I am from Al Qaeda. And the relationship between
me and Sept. 11 -- "
At that point he was abruptly cut off by Colonel Brownback, [the
presiding officer on the five-member commission panel,] who
apologized for interrupting but said he wanted to remind his fellow
panel members that Mr. Bahlul's statements should not be taken as
evidence to be used against him. When Mr. Bahlul resumed speaking,
he did not pick up where he had left off and never completed the
sentence about his relationship to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Hemingway of the Air Force, a commission
official, told reporters at the Pentagon in Washington after the
session that Colonel Brownback had only been trying to protect Mr.
Bahlul. There is, however, no protection against self-incrimination
in the military commission proceedings.
Sounds like this will be pretty interesting. As for the title of this
post, forgive me if the dynamics of the tribunal hearing remind me
just a bit of [2]this scene from Life of Brian.
References
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/27/politics/27gitmo.html
2. http://www.bjornetjenesten.dk/teksterdk/python.htm#Market%20Haggling
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