Secret Hearing Focuses on Hidden Microphones at Guantánamo Prison

GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — A subject justice connected Thursday began proceeding concealed grounds astir hidden microphones, allegations of eavesdropping and different authorities interference successful the enactment of defence lawyers successful the lawsuit of a Saudi antheral who is accused of masterminding the bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole successful 2000.

About 85 witnesses, each but 1 unidentified, were being called to attest implicit 8 days connected the issue, which has been a large impediment to getting a proceedings underway since adjacent earlier a 600-day hiatus successful tribunal proceedings caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

At a little unfastened league connected Tuesday, the defendant, Abd-al Rahim al-Nashiri, responded “yes” and gave a thumbs-up erstwhile the Army judge, Col. Lanny J. Acosta Jr., asked if helium understood that helium did not person to be unfastened hearings.

The question was mostly pro forma. Colonel Acosta soon closed the court, excluding some the suspect and the nationalist from the proceeding connected however 2 signaling devices ended up successful a confidential ineligible gathering country wherever Mr. Nashiri convened with his lawyers for much than 3 years, and whether prosecutors deliberately misled the warfare tribunal and an appellate tribunal connected the matter.

Concerns astir whether authorities actors listened to conversations betwixt Mr. Nashiri and his lawyers grew aft a defence squad researcher unscrewed a light-switch sheet from a partition successful their gathering country successful 2017 and discovered a listening instrumentality hidden down it.

That occurrence prompted 3 long-serving defence lawyers to abruptly discontinue the case aft an earlier subject justice forbade them from telling Mr. Nashiri astir the find and seeking a imaginable morals waiver due to the fact that the signaling strategy was classified.

Defense lawyers person accused prosecutors of misconduct implicit their handling of the question, claiming that they doctored documents to accidental that the microphone was “inoperable.” The defence discovered the changes successful “unedited evidence” that prosecutors turned implicit successful 2020 aft a tribunal order.

Prosecutors successful the lawsuit person consistently denied immoderate wrongdoing.

Defense lawyers were calling 25 witnesses and prosecutors had a database of much than 60 — including erstwhile situation guards, contractors and subject lawyers who worked connected detention operations. No proceeding oregon proceedings has been closed for truthful agelong oregon heard from arsenic galore witnesses astatine the warfare court, which was acceptable up aft the Sept. 11 attacks. The grounds was to sermon American quality systems and activities astatine the U.S. Navy basal prison, frustrating efforts by Mr. Nashiri’s lawyers to effort to clasp immoderate grounds successful public.

“Not lone does the nationalist and the suspect not spot the witnesses, but the existent identities of the witnesses are oftentimes withheld from the defense,” said the pb defence lawyer, Anthony J. Natale.

Mr. Nashiri, 56, is accused of orchestrating Al Qaeda’s termination bombing of the warship during a larboard sojourn to Aden, Yemen, successful 2000. Seventeen sailors died. His is 1 of 2 superior cases successful the subject commissions system, alongside the effort to prosecute five detainees who were arraigned successful 2012 connected charges of aiding the Sept. 11 attacks. Both cases person been stuck successful pretrial hearings.

It was Mr. Nashiri’s archetypal tribunal quality since January 2020. The 39 men presently held astatine the wartime situation spent overmuch of the archetypal twelvemonth oregon much of the pandemic successful isolation with nary visits from their lawyers and constricted entree to different prisoners and Army guards to forestall an outbreak astatine the distant basal of astir 6,000 residents.

The pandemic continues to hamper advancement astatine the warfare court. The proceedings were canceled connected Wednesday aft 2 prosecutors who had participated successful the lawsuit from a courtroom annex successful Crystal City, Va., developed symptoms of the coronavirus. The distant courtroom was acceptable up during the pandemic, and each but 2 of the witnesses were being called to attest from determination to debar the request to nonstop unvaccinated witnesses to Guantánamo 2 weeks aboriginal for a mandatory quarantine.

Defense lawyers person described a signifier of suspected eavesdropping connected confidential attorney-client communications, and telephone it authorities intrusion into their ethical work to safeguard their work, peculiarly successful a decease punishment case.

In December 2013, Mr. Nashiri told his lawyers that the compartment wherever they had been gathering since 2008 had been portion of a concealed C.I.A. prison, wherever helium had been held successful off-the-books detention successful 2003-04. Soon aft that conversation, prosecutors responded to an 18-month-old petition from Mr. Nashiri’s lawyers for accusation astir the gathering compound. Camp Echo II, arsenic it was called, had been utilized arsenic a achromatic site.

By then, lawyers had discovered that a instrumentality that resembled a fume detector successful a Camp Echo gathering country was successful information a listening device. Prosecutors brought subject commanders to attest successful unfastened tribunal that cipher was listening to conversations betwixt the detainees and their lawyers.

Defense lawyers said the usage of the achromatic tract itself re-traumatized Mr. Nashiri due to the fact that helium was tortured during his 2002-06 detention by the C.I.A. In response, Mr. Nashiri and his lawyers were assigned to a antithetic gathering site, the 1 that had 2 hidden microphones, astatine Camp Delta.

Also successful 2017, a erstwhile Nashiri defence lawyer, Cmdr. Jennifer Pollio Lubke, was amazed erstwhile an enlisted worker serving connected defender work called her “Miss Jenny” alternatively than “Commander Pollio.” Defense lawyers assertion that Mr. Nashiri called her “Miss Jenny,” but lone successful confidential communications, and the worker should not person known her nickname.

Commander Lubke, who presently works astatine the Defense Intelligence Agency, was to attest this week, astatine the petition of Mr. Nashiri’s lawyers, arsenic the lone unfastened tribunal witness. But a prosecutor, John Wells, said his questions would impact situation secrets and asked the justice to adjacent the court. He agreed.