Gitmo Judge Could Reinstate Charges Against Bin Laden Driver
The driver for Osama bin Laden has had many successes as he battles his detention at Guantanamo Bay, but he faced a setback with a military judge’s ruling yesterday.
The ruling could lead to reinstatement of charges against the detainee, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who had earlier succeeded in getting a military judge to dismiss the charges because a military review tribunal had not properly classified him as an unlawful enemy combatant as required by a 2006 law.
The same military judge, Capt. Keith Allred, has now ruled he has the authority to make the unlawful enemy combatant determination himself, SCOTUSblog reports. Allred set a Nov. 9 hearing to hear government evidence in the case.
Allred’s ruling yesterday (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog) cited a Sept. 24 decision by U.S. Court of Military Commission Review that gave another military judge the authority to make the combatant determination in a different case.
Hamdan was partly responsible for the 2006 Military Commissions Act that sets out the procedure for his trial. He challenged the old system of Guantanamo military commissions and succeeded before the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled the government didn’t have legislative authority to create the military commissions. Congress responded with the law.
Hamdan went back to the U.S. Supreme Court this year, seeking to consolidate his case with two others that ask whether the detainees have a right to habeas corpus. The court denied review on Oct. 1, Reuters reported at the time.
