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Ghailani, Ahmed Khalfan fr

Country of proceedings: United-States
Context of crimes: Tanzania
Date: 2004 - present
Keywords: Law of armed conflicts (civilians/civilian objects, murder), terrorism

Court Documents

Military Commission
31-03-2008 - Sworn Charges
18-06-2008 - Re-Sworn Charges

Southern District Court of New York (Pros. v. Usama Bin Laden et al.)
04-11-1998 - Indictment
12-03-2001 - Superseding Indictment [part 1] [part 2] [part 3]
16-11-2009 - Motion to Dismiss
18-11-2009 - Ruling on Representation by Military Counsel
15-12-2009 - US Memorandum Opposing Motion to Dismiss
12-07-2010 - US District Court of New York

Other Documents
21-5-2009 - US Department of Justice Press Release

Presentation of the case
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was arrested in Pakistan in July 2004 and transferred to Guantanamo Bay in September 2006. Ghailani was charged in 2008 by the US Office of Military Commissions with ten counts of terrorism and war crimes including murder and attacking civilians related to the 1998 US embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. Upon his arrest, Pakistani officials said his apprehension was one of the most significant since the detention of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in 2003.

In addition to the charges related to the embassy bombings, Ghailani was indicted by a federal grand jury of the Southern District of New York in 1998 alongside twenty-one other accused in United States v. Usama bin Laden et al.. According to that Indictment, Ghailani faces 286 separate counts, including conspiring with Osama bin Laden to kill Americans anywhere in the world.

In June 2009, Ghailani became the first prisoner of Guantanamo Bay to be transferred to the United States for prosecution, following the announcement by the Obama Administration that the cases of all the detainees would be reviewed pursuant to the planned closure of the facility. Ghailani now faces trial before a US federal court rather than through the controversial military commissions process established by the Bush Administration. Setting an early precedent in the US justice system, a federal court judge ruled on 17 June 2009 that Ghailani could be represented by his military defence counsel in the federal district court. However, in November 2009, a federal judge ruled against Ghailani's right to be represented by his military counsel. Lawyers for Ghailani have subsequently filed a Motion to dismiss the charges due to the violation of his right to a speedy trial.

The date for the trial has been set for 13 September 2010. Lawyers for Ghailani have already requested access to the secret CIA prisons, or ‘black sites’, where he was held prior to his transfer to Guantanamo Bay.

Related case
United States v. Usama Bin Laden et al. / In Re: Embassy Bombings of US Embassies in East Africa

Cases before the Military Commissions