Lawyers for the five men charged with plotting the September 11 attacks argued after a female guard testified in court. They claimed that the government officials illegally redacted testimony about treatment of Muslim prisoners made during a pre-trial hearing.
According to Yahoo! News, the heated discussion started after the blacked-out testimony given by a female guard in October. The guard claimed that women guards at the U.S. military base in Cuba should be banned for religious reasons from touching Muslim prisoners.
Lawyers of the accused stated that prisoners' objections to being touched must be respected on religious grounds. A U.S. military official, however, stated that the protests were a move to cut out proceedings in the slow-moving 9/11 death penalty trial.
Reuters mentioned that the guard, who used the pseudonym Sergeant Jinx, made a statement in an open court in 2015 about the contact between female guards and Guatanamo Bay prisoners. The female guard spoke the details about how a guard team would handle the detainees.
However, the Intelligence agencies later on wiped out Sergeant Jinx's testimony from an online transcript that was made available to the public on a government webpage. "It is very important that these things be open," stated David Schulz, a New York media attorney. He added, "It's how reporters who are unable to be here are able to follow these proceedings."
The attorney also told Judge Army Colonel James Pohl that the transcripts were judicial records. They were made in an open court and the public can view them under their constitutional right.
On the other hand, Chief Prosecutor Brigadier General Mark Martins argued that the transcript was not an official judicial record, but it is considered a draft. He said that the experts found out that Sergeant Jinx's statements would cause damage to the national security.
The families of the September 11 victims and some reporters also viewed the statement made by Jinx in a live screening on October 30. "The horse went out the barn door, and now the government is trying to close the barn door," stated Jim Harrington, an attorney for suspect Ramzi Bin al Shibh, a Yemeni man accused of wiring money to the Sept. 11 hijackers, via AsiaOne.
Meanwhile, the hearing at Guatanamo Bay was monitored by the closed circuit television from a media center at Fort Meade, which is found outside Washington. It is allegedly confirmed that the protests about the September 11 death penalty trial are still going to pursue.
