The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned the 2008 conviction of al-Qaeda’s publicist Friday, potentially creating a loophole for the overturn of additional terrorist convictions.
The court ruled 2-1 in favor of Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, who made promotional videos for Osama bin Laden, that Bahlul could not be convicted under the conspiracy charges the U.S. military commission used against him.
The court found that conspiracy charges used by the military commission are limited to domestic cases, where Bahlul’s case was tried under the legal auspices of international war crimes. Conspiracy is not a recognized charge of international war crimes.
The overturn potentially threatens future use of the military commission process to prosecute captured terrorists.
The detention facility at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, recently held pre-trial proceedings for the trial against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, accused of masterminding the 2000 attack on the Navy destroyer USS Cole, which killed 17 U.S. sailors; and for Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, accused of masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001. attacks on the United States.
