On Monday, a military court postponed the trial in Al Qaida’s bomb attack in 2000 of the American Navy Distress Cole until next year to give more lawyers of the defense to prepare for the death penalty.
The judge, Colonel Matthew S. Fitzgerald, announced the new starting date for the trial – 1 June 2026 – during a pretial hearing at the MarinStation in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
The judge had Plan the test to start on October 6Days before the 25th anniversary of the attack in which 17 American sailors were killed and dozens of others were injured. The suspect, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, is accused of helping the attack By two suicide bombers who blew a bomb loaded skiff next to the cole during a fuel stop of Aden, Yemen.
Colonel Fitzgerald also canceled pretrial hearings until November and said he agreed with the defense lawyer, Allison F. Miller, that she needed more time to prepare. He said he would give a more detailed explanation and deadlines in a written decision.
Mrs. Miller is the third main defender that Mr Nashiri, a Saudi prisoner, represents since his previous leading in 2011. She was hired in August.
She said during a recent hearing that her focus had been last year To reach a guilty plea agreement That would arrange the case with a prison sentence instead of a trial and a possible death penalty. Mr. Nashiri60, signed the agreement with military prosecutors in December, Mrs. Miller said. But the main prosecutor, behind Adm. Aaron C. Rugh, should not yet present the settlement to Minister of Defense Pete Hegseeth to determine if he will approve it.
The Cole case is the longest-running capital case in Guantánamo Bay. The reasons why it took so long to achieve an actual process include challenges for proof, A strike in 2018 by an earlier defense team and a decision from a judge to excludes Mr Nashiri’s confessions as infected by torture.
At least Eight parents of the fallen sailorsOf whom many were regularly attended pretrial procedures, died while waiting for a process.
Colonel Fitzgerald is the fourth military court that provides for the case, and the fourth to set a fixed test date and then leave. Mr. Hegseeth recently assigned him to serve as the most important judge of the Guantánamo-legal power, in addition to chairing the court-Martial Affairs.
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