WASHINGTON (AP) – A federal appeals court is reconsidering the legality of the only remaining conviction of a Guantanamo Bay detainee who once served as Osama bin Laden’s personal assistant and media relations secretary.
The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments Tuesday after a divided three-judge appeals panel earlier ruled that the case against Ali Hamza al-Bahlul is legally flawed because conspiracy is not a recognized war crime under international law.
That June ruling could have limited the government’s ability to prosecute terror suspects outside of the civilian justice system. The Obama administration successfully appealed the ruling to the full, 10-judge court.
The government argues that Congress acted lawfully in making conspiracy a crime that can be tried by the special military tribunals the George W. Bush administration created following the Sept. 11 attacks.
To help make their case, lawyers for the Justice Department have reached back for legal precedents set during some of the most turbulent periods in American history, including the tribunals held under martial law for those who conspired with John Wilkes Booth to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln.