The U.S. has resumed 9/11 pre-trail Gitmo hearings for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-defendants accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks.
The purpose of the pre-trail hearings is to “resolve outstanding issues” before the actual trials begin some time next year.
One of the issues being resolved is whether the defendants have to attend their own trial. The prosecution is arguing that forcing them to attend the trial may bring up memories they don’t want to face, and “emotions of things that happened to [them]” that they don’t want to remember.
Another issue is the fact that classified information about interrogations and the details regarding confinement at Guantanamo Bay are to stay classified, even if used in the courtroom. The prosecution and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wants this changed. They want to be able to parade interrogation techniques and details about confinement before the world.
The trial has been delayed until now because of Obama’s earlier efforts to move the trials from Guantanamo Bay to federal courts in the U.S.