Majid Khan's sentencing is the culmination a first military commission trial for one of 14 high-value detainees sent to the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba in 2006. They had been held in a network of clandestine CIA detention facilities overseas and were subject to harsh interrogation programs in response to 9/11.
Khan, a 41 year-old Pakistani citizen, was brought to the U.S. by his parents in the 1990s. He graduated from a high school near Baltimore and pleaded guilty earlier to war crimes charges, including conspiracy and murder, for his involvement with al-Qaida plots, such as the bombing of the J.W. In August 2003, the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia was opened.
He apologized for his actions which included plotting al-Qaida attacks on the U.S. after September 11, 2001, and a failed plot against former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf. He said that he did it all and had no excuse during a two-hour testimony to jurors. And I'm very sorry for anyone I have hurt."
A jury of eight military officers had to decide on a sentence between 25 and 40 years. The jury heard Khan's cooperation with U.S authorities after his guilty plea. They also heard the testimony of the prisoner, which included details about his brutal CIA interrogation in captivity and his three-year imprisonment before he arrived at Guantanamo.
The jury foreman stated that seven of the eight jurors had written a letter to Pentagon legal officials recommending clemency to the defendant. This is an option under military commission law.
He could be released in February under a pretrial agreement. At that point, he would be resettled into a third country. He is not allowed to return to Pakistan.
The pretrial agreement required a Pentagon legal officer known as a convening author to reduce his sentence to not more than 11 years due to his cooperation was not disclosed to jurors. He would also receive credit for some time he spent in custody.
The Biden administration will have to close the detention centre that currently holds 39 men and find a country that will accept Khan along with his wife, the daughter, and the child who were born after he was captured by Pakistani authorities.
Wells Dixon, who was part the defense team and a lawyer for Center for Constitutional Rights, stated that Khan's sentence would be completed by February. According to Wells Dixon, Khan's team is looking forward to working with Biden to ensure that Khan receives the support he needs to be able to continue his life and contribute to society.
The prosecution demanded that the jury recommend a sentence at a higher range despite the pre-trial agreement. Khan's cooperation, contrition, and the harsh conditions in which he was held were all considered by the defense.
Majid Khan is now a different person since the commission of these crimes," stated Army Maj. Michael Lyness (a military defense attorney). Majid Khan has been reformed and is worthy of your mercy.
Army Col. Walter Foster was the main prosecutor and sought to discredit Khan's claim that he was led astray as a teenager by radical Islam. Although Foster admitted that Khan had been subject to "extremely harsh treatment" by the CIA, he vowed to remind the court about the 11 victims of the Marriott bombing.
Foster said that Foster is alive and well today. This luxury was not available to the victims and dead of the J.W. Foster stated that the victims of the Marriott bombing are not entitled to this luxury.
Khan's cooperation will be helpful in other war crimes cases at Guantanamo. One involving five men detained there is one that Khan has been cooperating with. They are charged with helping to plan and assist the Sept. 11 attacks. These cases, which have been stalled at the base's pretrial stage for many years, are a major obstacle to the closure of the detention center.
