Today, families of the 9/11 victims, who wait for justice for their loved ones, got this in their inbox:
In April 2014, the Defense filed a motion requesting the Commission inquire into potential conflicts of interest arising from inquiries by the Federal Bureau of Investigation into one or more of the defense teams. On 3 April 2015, the appointed Special Review Team (SRT) provided classified, ex parte, filings to the Military Judge regarding the inquiry concerning the potential conflicts of interest centering on Mr. bin al Shibh's Defense Team. Based upon the filing by the SRT, and the stance of the Prosecution as to preservation of a joint trial, the Judge issued a Scheduling Order cancelling the 20-24 April 2015 hearing.
[...]
The next scheduled hearing in the case of U.S. v Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, et al. is 1-5 June 2015.
Stars and Stripes had this:
Judge cancels this month's 9/11 hearing at Guantanamo
By Carol Rosenberg
MIAMI (Tribune News Service) — Military judges have canceled three war court hearings in a row, effectively leaving Guantanamo’s Camp Justice dark for two months and signaling how much the war crimes cases are still a work in progress.
On Friday, according to attorneys who have seen the order, the Sept. 11 trial judge canceled hearings planned for April 20-24 at the war-court compound in Cuba. Army Col. James L. Pohl, the judge, cited a secret filing that day by a Justice Department team reporting to him about the circumstances of a supposedly since-closed FBI probe of defense attorneys.
Pohl also cited the case prosecutor’s continuing opposition to his judicial order separating defendant Ramzi bin al Shibh from the case to make progress toward the trials of the other four men.
Accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his alleged accomplices were last in court February when hearings were disrupted by Bin al Shibh’s disclosure that a Pentagon-paid, defense interpreter had earlier worked for the CIA in their secret prison network, where the men were tortured.
Their next hearing in the death-penalty case is scheduled for June 1-5.
Progress has also been slowed while attorneys and the judge waited for release of a portion of the so-called Senate Torture Report that described in part what agents did to the five men in the CIA prison network between 2002 or 2003 and 2006.
Defense attorneys now want the rest of the report, which is classified. Prosecutors say they are studying it to decide which portions the defense lawyers should see. Earlier, another judge, Air Force Col. Vance H. Spath, canceled this week’s pretrial hearing in the USS Cole case after prosecutors appealed his rejection of a prosecution theory in the case alleging “wanton disregard” for the safety of Yemeni port workers in Aden at the time of al-Qaida’s Oct. 12, 2000 suicide bombing. Seventeen U.S. sailors died in the attack and prosecutors want to bring witnesses that widen the victim pool beyond the American service members....
GO read the rest of this one here.
It may seem hard, from both Carol Rosenberg's ongoing reporting, and the regular emails sent to the 9/11 families, to remember that every single one of those we lost on 9/11 is more than a number. As the wheels of justice grind ever more slowly, and the defense continues to use any and all trick in the books to ensure the 9/11 terrorists' rights - rights to which, as enemies of America, in my opinion, they are not entitled - every delay exacerbates the agony of loss forever carried by the survivors of that terrible day.
That is Keith, Ken and Diane Fairben in their last family photo prior to 9/11. On that day, Ken and Diane lost their only child, as Keith gave his life working to save other innocents' lives.
My regular readers know that in the last few years I have come to know and love Ken and Diane, and many other 9/11 survivors, as family.
The road to justice seems never-ending, and along the way Ken and Diane - and other 9/11 families have faithfully attended scheduled GITMO hearings.
The last Hearings in February were scheduled to last a week, but in fact ran for a total of less than 10 hours, based on new defense tactics. Of course, one of the latest gifts to the defense team was the "CIA torture Memo" that Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein felt compelled to release. At that time, I told Diane Fairben that I was sure that would be a golden gift to the defense, and so it is proving.
Back in February, Diane and Ken attended a CCTV Hearing at their nearest Military base, and Diane shared her observations with me.(All quotes used with permission.)
February 12
Well, we are here...arguments about a detainee and his health, because he was not cooperating with guards taking him back to his cell in December. So said detainee was hit, kicked, now has internal injuries.
Any rational person would know the absurdity of such claims, since I can guarantee that every Military member doing a deployment at GITMO is more than well aware that every interaction with the inmates is subject to scrutiny by the defense lawyers and the msm.
February 12
Torture, is now being blamed for detainees health,, going back to 2003.
Can you feel my BP GOING UP.
Yes, yes, I could, and I was reminded of this:
That is part one of a four part interview with Dr James Mitchell.
Go here for all four parts of this illuminating description of what actually took place. Although I do have issues with some of the questions Kelly asked Mitchell, I believe the details given by Mitchell put the lie to the political spin insisted on by the Democrats. It is worth noting - for those who may have missed it - that the Democrat report released with such flourish, does not include any input from any of the crucial officials. It was solely a Democrat produced report..
Let me state for the record that I absolutely believe in the prosecuting team being always mindful of the true victims of that cowardly terrorist act on 9/11, and their right to see justice done. However, I have long maintained to Diane and other 9/11 survivors, that for the current administration, it is all about politics and politically-driven agendas, Despite being assured by some that this Military Commission is under the auspices of the Military, and therefore immune to political interference, back in February there was this from the Business Insider:
A US military court is investigating possible government meddling in a hearing of accused 9/11 plotters
Tom Ramstack ReutersFebruary 11, 2015
FORT MEADE, Md. (Reuters) - A U.S. military court on Wednesday tried to assess whether government agents interfered with the trial of five men charged with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by spying on defenses attorneys and their clients.
The judge halted the pre-trial hearing at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison on Monday after one of the defendants said his interpreter had worked at a secret CIA prison.
When the hearing resumed on Wednesday, defenses attorneys contended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency had planted Arabic interpreters on the defenses team, bugged conversations between the attorneys and their clients and questioned their support staff.
Defenses attorneys told Army Colonel Judge James Pohl the apparent spying interfered with the defendants' constitutional rights to a fair trial in the slow-moving death penalty cases....
GO read the rest.
Yes, Diane saw that exchange and shared this comment:
...apparently, [...] client saw someone in the courtroom that upset him...she said he was terrified........I'm done..
And the circus continues.
As stated above, the defense certainly is providing a *robust* defense, such as would be accorded any American in a court of law, and this is being noted. Again from February, Miami Herald had this:
Side issues slow progress toward 9/11 trial at Guantánamo Carol Rosenberg Miami Herald2/8/2015The accused Sept. 11 conspirators unfurled their prayer rugs during scheduled prayer breaks at their May 5, 2012 arraignment at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo. They are, from, Mustafa al Hawsawi, Ammar al Baluchi, Ramzi bin al Shibh, Walid Bin Attash,and Khalid Sheik Mohammad, shown in this sketch reviewed and approved for release by a U.S. military security official at the base.JANET HAMLIN ILLUSTRATION
The accused 9/11 plotters led by Khalid Sheik Mohammed return to war court Monday for the first time in six months with an agenda packed with some of the most fundamental issues to bedevil the case — torture, religious accommodation and the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship.
None of it, however, will involve the crime itself that drove creation of the court and prison in this remote outpost in southeast Cuba — the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
That’s because nearly three years after the Obama administration first arraigned the men, the legal landscape has gotten more complicated, not less, in the Pentagon’sdeath penalty prosecution of the five men accused of training, directing and funding the hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field....
For the true depth of the absurdity of the 'side issues', go read the rest of this here
So we come to today's notice of cancellation of the Hearings previously scheduled for April.
Diane's comment on this news?
I wonder sometimes, how we are not in the looney bin
As the days, weeks, months and years pass that these murderers continue to evade justice for their heinous crimes, it is more than understandable why Diane and ALL the survivors of 9/11 get to see their rights to justice.
Lest we forget, this is the latest 9/11 Roll of Honor and Remembrance put together (by Claudia Thomas) to ensure that we remember those survivors we have lost to 9/11 related illnesses. I would be remiss if I did not tell you that this video does not include many others, whose names are known only to God, and a few others within their close circle of family and friends left behind to mourn. That day continues to demand a heavy price, as not a week goes by that another who stepped up to Serve on that day, lose their hard-fought battles.
9/11 Roll of Honor & Remembrance (Those Who Have Passed After 9/11 to Current Day)
Remember the VICTIMS.