World | USA
'Guantanamo trials to continue'
US Attorney General Michael Mukasey said on Friday that the administration would continue military trials at Guantanamo Bay despite a Supreme Court decision letting prisoners appeal to civilian courts.
- Agencies
- Published: 20:47 June 13, 2008
Tokyo, Japan: US Attorney General Michael Mukasey said on Friday that the administration would continue military trials at Guantanamo Bay despite a Supreme Court decision letting prisoners appeal to civilian courts.
The Supreme Court, striking another blow to President George W. Bush's case for trying "war on terror" suspects in military courts, said on Thursday that inmates held at the military base in Cuba had a right to appeal to US courts.
But Mukasey, in Tokyo for talks of justice ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) major industrial nations, said that the administration would not halt the military trials.
"I think it bears emphasis that the court's decision does not concern military commission trials, which will continue to proceed," he told reporters.
He said the decision instead focused on the "procedures that the Congress and the president put in place to allow enemy combatants to challenge their detention".
Mukasey voiced disappointment at the court's decision, while saying he had not reviewed it in detail due to the time-zone difference between Washington and Tokyo.
"I'm disappointed with the decision in so far as I understand that it will result in hundreds of actions challenging the detention of enemy combatants to be moved to federal district court," Mukasey said.
The US military has brought some 800 prisoners to the base in Cuba.
White House hopefuls Republican John McCain and his Democratic rival Barack Obama have both said they would close the prison. Bush, on a visit to Rome, said he would abide by the decision but disagreed with it and would consider seeking new legislation.
Meanwhile, attorneys for an alleged September 11 plotter and for Osama Bin Laden's former driver said on Thursday they would use the ruling to argue that charges against their clients should be dismissed.
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