Colonel Matthew McCall, the new military judge behind the 9/11 case, abruptly canceled the final day of the hearing in Guantanamo due to a case of an illness related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Times reported on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th September, 2021) Colonel Matthew McCall, the new military judge behind the 9/11 case, abruptly canceled the final day of the hearing in Guantanamo due to a case of an illness related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Times reported on Friday.
The pretrial hearings for the five detainees accused of plotting and executing the terrorist attacks opened last week at the Expeditionary Legal Complex at Guantanamo Bay.
The Friday hearing was canceled due to an illness detected among some trial participants, NYT specified. Also, a reporter who returned to the US from the prison complex on Sunday reportedly tested positive for the virus. The journalist was reportedly fully vaccinated, the Times reported.
So far, four out of five detainees who apprised at the trial, have been vaccinated.
The sudden news comes on the heels of the announcement of McCall who said on Monday that the trial of five Guantanamo Bay detainees is not expected to begin for at least another year. The judge also said military commission regulations, the Air Force bar and ethical obligations did not bound going to trial by a particular timeline.
The most high-profile defendant of the five is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who, according to the US government, was the central figure in the attacks. Mohammed was a member of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror group (banned in Russia) and reportedly directed the group's propaganda operations from 1999-2001.
McCall rejected the challenges of defendants - Walid bin Attash and Ramzi bin al-Shibh - questioning his qualifications given that he had not read all the filings and court records.
