GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — A jury of U.S. military officers at Guantanamo’s second war-crimes trial reached a verdict Friday that could put Osama bin Laden’s alleged “media secretary” and videomaker in prison for life.
The decision will not be announced until Monday because Ali Hamza al-Bahlul was back in his cell when the verdict was reached, said the judge, Air Force Col. Ronald Gregory. The judge told al-Bahlul no announcement would be made in his absence.
The nine panelists, all approved by the Pentagon, deliberated for four hours. The accused offered no defense after calling the proceedings a “legal farce.”
The prosecution said al-Bahlul’s violent propaganda videos helped inspire the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The Yemeni prisoner also helped prepare at least two Sept. 11 hijackers for their mission and instructed many other terrorists through videos he created as a propagandist for al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, said Army Maj. Daniel Cowhig.
“The accused shouted through the medium of video, the Internet, and DVDs: Love death, hate life,” Cowhig said in closing statements Friday morning at the isolated Navy base.
Al-Bahlul refused to present a defense in the week-long trial because the judge ruled he could not represent himself. His Pentagon-appointed attorney did not speak at all in deference to his client’s wishes, declining even to answer questions from the judge while in the courtroom.
Al-Bahlul, who was brought to Guantanamo in 2002, is the second prisoner to go through a war-crimes trial under the special military commissions system. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of conspiracy, supporting terrorism and solicitation to commit murder. The military claims al-Bahlul committed war crimes by serving as chief propagandist for al-Qaeda and as an aide to bin Laden.
