9/11 Suspects In Court This Weekend
By: Liz Hogan
Updated: May 6, 2012
The prosecution of five Guantanamo Bay prisoners charged in the September 11th attacks got off to a rough start Saturday.
The trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self proclaimed mastermind of the attacks, and four men accused of helping orchestrate the plot won't start anytime soon.
The chief prosecutor said he expected a barrage of defense motions before the case goes to trial.
The arraignment dragged on for 13 hours Saturday, after disruptions by the defendants.
They refused to respond to the judge or use the court's transcription system, and their actions angered victims' relatives.
"This is what we're dealing with. This is Jihad in the courtroom. And this is Sharia, writ large over the bodies of 3,000 victims. So, it's difficult, but we're here for the long term. It's been a long, long time and we want justice for our families," said Debra Burlingame.
Burlingame's brother was killed in the 9/11 attacks.
The families and first responders watched the proceedings on closed-circuit television.
Sunday, defense attorneys called the actions of their defendants "peaceful resistance to an unjust system" after years of torture.
"What I can tell you though is that I have viewed scars on his arms and that we have reason to believe that he has been subjected to mistreatment while in the camps and we're hoping to address that with the court and hoping to get a fair hearing on that," said Cheryl Bormann, attorney for Walid bin Attash.
A tentative trial date of May 2013 is a placeholder until an actual date can be set.
