Gov’t censor cuts audio at 9/11 hearing

A reference to harsh treatment at CIA prisons brought out Guantanamo’s censors Thursday as an official of the war crimes court abruptly cut the sound to prevent spectators from hearing classified information.

Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier, a lawyer appointed by the Pentagon to defend 9/11 suspect Ramzi bin al Shibh, began discussing the prisoner’s treatment before he was taken to Guantanamo in September 2006 when the censor hit the switch.

“The government can’t hide the fact that they used sleep deprivation …” Lachelier said before she was cut off and the sound of static filled a soundproof spectator section in the courtroom and a separate media viewing room. There is a 40-second delay in the spectator and media rooms.

U.S. authorities have cut the sound several times in the past to protect classified information and have held many hearings in private.

Bin al Shibh is one of five Guantanamo prisoners charged before the special war crimes tribunal for their alleged roles in the Sept. 11 attacks.

He was not in court because he had chosen not to attend the pretrial hearing in which his lawyers were seeking a court order granting additional experts and other resources to help determine whether he is mentally competent to stand trial.

His lawyers say he has a “delusional disorder” and has been treated with a medication used for schizophrenia.

He and his fellow “high value” detainees are believed to have been subjected to particularly harsh interrogation techniques at secret overseas locations.

All five defendants have said they want to serve as their own attorneys and plead guilty but a judge has not yet ruled whether bin al Shibh and another defendant, Mustafa al Hawsawi, are competent to do so.

The men, including self-proclaimed mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, face the death penalty if convicted.

Earlier, the pretrial hearing was delayed after all five defendants refused to attend the court session in an apparent protest of a judge’s ruling that Mohammed and two other men would not be able to speak at the session because their cases were not the focus of the hearing.

Later, three showed up at the hearing, though one quickly asked to leave because of limits set by the judge on the issues he could discuss in court. Mohammed did not attend.

The men’s trial, along with all Guantanamo war crimes trials, are on hold as President Barack Obama conducts a review of the system fo prosecuting terrorism suspects created under his predecessor.