“A US judge has ruled that the first war crimes trial at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, involving Osama Bin Laden’s former driver, can go ahead. Judge James Robertson dismissed a claim from lawyers for Salim Hamdan, a Yemeni, that it should be stopped while he challenged the process’s legality.
The ruling came after a military judge at Guantanamo denied a postponement. Last month, the US Supreme Court ruled detainees had to be able to challenge their detention in civilian courts. It said the 270 men currently being detained at Guantanamo had “the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus” - the right for suspects to be heard by an independent judge on the legality of their detention.”
The situation is far from perfect, but at least some of the inmates are actually having trials, rather than being stuck in limbo. Hopefully whoever wins the Presidency will speed things up.
