AP: Legal Experts Rap Media Ban at Gitmo

[Eugene]

Legal Experts Rap Media Ban at Gitmo

By PETE YOST
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 7, 2007; 6:08 PM

WASHINGTON -- Legal experts criticized the Bush administration Wednesday
for barring the news media from military hearings that begin this week for
14 terror suspects in Guantanamo Bay.

The detainees include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a suspected mastermind
of the Sept. 11 attacks.

"It's a mistake to close the entirety of the hearing," said First Amendment
lawyer Floyd Abrams. "Closing the courtroom to scrutiny sends a troubling
signal to much of the world about the fairness of our process."

"The whole world is watching," said Scott Silliman, who was an Air Force
lawyer for 25 years. "If Congress enacts what it claims to be a fair system
for prosecuting these people, why is there a need to shield it from the
press?"

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/07/AR2007030701903.html

Earlier LBN thread: Hearings set for "high-value" Guantanamo inmates