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Thomas Fleener is an American military officer and lawyer. Fleener, a major in the United States Army Reserve, has been appointed to serve as a defense lawyer in the Guantanamo military commissions. He has been appointed to serve as the defense lawyer for Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman al Bahlul.
In his civilian capacity, Fleener is an attorney in his own law firm in Wyoming. A former Federal Public Defender, Fleener continues to serve in the Reserves as a Judge Advocate with the 22d Legal Support Organization, Trial Defense Service, defending soldiers accused of misconduct. He is a member of the bars of Iowa and Wyoming. Prior to becoming a Federal Public Defender, Fleener served on active duty as an Army Judge Advocate for nearly eight years in both the United States and Europe. Prior to attending college and law school in Arkansas, Fleener also served on active duty as an enlisted soldier.
Though Al Bahlul has consistently insisted that he wants to represent himself or be represented by a Yemeni attorney, the United States Defense Department's Office of Military Commissions ruled that military defense counsel must represent defendants according to military commission rules. [1]
Fleener understands Al Bahlul's wish to defend himself, agrees he should have that right, and said that forcing counsel upon the defendant "may give the appearance to the outside world that I am here not to serve as Mr. al Bahlul's attorney, rather simply to add some air of legitimacy to an otherwise wholly illegitimate process." [1]
In 2006, Fleener said: "For four years they wouldn't let detainees have lawyers; now they're shoving one down his throat."
Fleener and the question whether detainees should be able to represent themselves were featured in the October 2007 issue of the "Yale Law Journal" in an article by Matthew Bloom entitled: "I Did Not Come Here To Defend Myself": Responding to War on Terror Detainees' Attempts To Dismiss Counsel and Boycott the Trial." He was profiled in the August 2007 edition of GQ in an article titled, "The Defense Will Not Rest."
After two years of appearances before the Guantanamo military commissions, Fleener returned to civilian practice, and in 2008 opened a private criminal defense law firm in Laramie, Wyoming.
Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi is a Sudanese militant and paymaster for al-Qaeda. Qosi was held from January 2002 in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number is 54.
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani is a Tanzanian conspirator of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization convicted for his role in the bombing of embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He was indicted in the United States as a participant in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. He was on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list from its inception in October 2001. In 2004, he was captured and detained by Pakistani forces in a joint operation with the United States, and was held until June 9, 2009, at Guantanamo Bay detention camp; one of 14 Guantanamo detainees who had previously been held at secret locations abroad. According to The Washington Post, Ghailani told military officers he is contrite and claimed to be an exploited victim of al-Qaeda operatives.
The Guantanamo military commissions were established by President George W. Bush – through a military order – on November 13, 2001, to try certain non-citizen terrorism suspects at the Guantanamo Bay prison. To date, there have been a total of eight convictions in the military commissions, six through plea agreements with the defendants. Several of the eight convictions have been overturned in whole or in part on appeal, mostly by U.S. federal courts.
Salim Ahmed Hamdan is a Yemeni man, captured during the invasion of Afghanistan, declared by the United States government to be an illegal enemy combatant and held as a detainee at Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to November 2008. He admits to being Osama bin Laden's personal driver and said he needed the money.
Colonel Frederic L. Borch is a career United States Army attorney with a master's degree in national security studies, who served as chief prosecutor of the Guantanamo military commissions. He resigned his commission in August 2005 after three prosecutors complained that he had rigged the system against providing due process to defendants. He was replaced by Robert L. Swann
Abdul Zahir (عبدالظاهر) is a citizen of Afghanistan currently held in extrajudicial detention in the United States' Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba. He was the tenth captive, and the first Afghan, to face charges before the first Presidentially authorized Guantanamo military commissions. After the Supreme Court ruled that the President lacked the constitutional authority to set up military commissions, the United States Congress passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006, he was not charged under that system.
Charles D. Swift is an American attorney and former career Navy officer, who retired in 2007 as a Lieutenant Commander in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. He is most noted for having served as defense counsel for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a detainee from Yemen who was the first to be charged at Guantanamo Bay; Swift took his case to the US Supreme Court. In 2005 and June 2006, the National Law Journal recognized Swift as one of the top lawyers nationally because of his work on behalf of justice for the detainees.
Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul is a Yemeni citizen who has been held as an enemy combatant since 2002 in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He boycotted the Guantanamo Military Commissions, arguing that there was no legal basis for the military tribunals to judge him.
Kevin M. Sandkuhler is an American lawyer, and retired brigadier general in the United States Marine Corps. His 2003 memo expressing concerns about the US interrogation of terrorism suspects, released in 2005 after a declassification request by Senator Lindsey Graham, received national and international attention.
Colby Vokey is an American lawyer and former officer in the United States Marine Corps. He currently practices criminal defense law in his own private practice. He represents clients in all types of criminal matters, with particular emphasis on cases involving military law. Vokey earned the rank of lieutenant colonel and served as a judge advocate in the United States Marine Corps during 21 years of service to his country. His retirement from the Marine Corps became effective Nov. 1, 2008. During his military career, Vokey earned worldwide praise for his work ethic and integrity, based in part on his work for defendants detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who faced charges stemming from the war in Iraq.
Bruce Edward MacDonald is a retired United States Navy vice admiral who last served as the 40th Judge Advocate General of the Navy from July 2006 to August 2009. Prior to that, MacDonald served as Deputy Judge Advocate General of the Navy from November 2004 to July 2006.
Attorney Lawrence J. Morris is the chief of staff and counselor to the president at The Catholic University of America and a retired United States Army colonel.
United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, et al. is the trial of five alleged Al-Qaeda members for aiding the September 11, 2001 attacks. Charges were announced by Brigadier General Thomas W. Hartmann on February 11, 2008 at a press conference hosted by the Pentagon. The men charged are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Ammar al-Baluchi, and Mustafa Ahmad al Hawsawi.
In 2006, after charges were laid against a number of detainees held in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps, a boycott against the judicial hearings was declared by Ali al-Bahlul. The boycott gained momentum in 2008 when more detainees faced Guantanamo military commissions
David Frakt is an American lawyer, law professor, and officer in the United States Air Force Reserve.
This page lists trials related to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Scott L. Fenstermaker is an American criminal defense lawyer based in New York City. In November 2022, he was charged with trespassing, assault, reckless conduct, and attempted theft.
Andrea J. Prasow is an American attorney and global human rights advocate. She leads The Freedom Initiative, a U.S.-based organization whose mission is "to bring international attention to the plight of political prisoners in the Middle East and advocate for their release." Prasow was appointed as The Freedom Initiative's executive director in November 2021.
Jeffrey Colwell is an American lawyer, and retired colonel in the United States Marine Corps. Colwell served in the Marine Corps from his graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1987 until his retirement in 2012. The Marine Corps sponsored Colwell to earn a J.D. degree at Suffolk University. After his retirement, he moved with his wife and two children to Denver, Colorado to become a court clerk.
Thomas Anthony Durkin is a criminal defense attorney in Chicago. He specializes in civil rights and domestic terrorism cases.