The American military tribunal at Guantanamo ruled Thursday that one of the defendants who planned the September 11 attacks could not be tried because of the psychological aftereffects of the torture he suffered in detention, according to the New York Times” (NYT). .
Yemeni Ramzi bin al-Khaiba, 51, was due to appear alongside four other defendants in a trial in which they could face the death penalty.
However, Col. Matthew McCall, a military judge, ruled that his psychological aftereffects prevented him from defending himself, the newspaper said.
Doctors at the US base at Guantanamo on the island of Cuba diagnosed Ramzi bin al-Shaiba with post-traumatic stress disorder and psychotic features, as well as a delusional disorder.
Military psychiatrists said his condition left him “unable to understand the nature of the case against him or to cooperate intelligently with his legal defense team,” writes The New York Times.
Mr. bin al-Khaiba has complained for years that he is “tormented by invisible forces that vibrate his bed and cell, sting his genitals and deprive him of sleep,” the newspaper adds.
His lawyer claimed his client was tortured and driven insane by the CIA using what the agency called “enhanced interrogation techniques,” which included sleep deprivation, simulated drowning (waterboarding) and beatings.
On Friday, he was scheduled to attend a pretrial hearing with Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, considered the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and the three other defendants, all of whom have been imprisoned at Guantanamo for more than fifteen years and still have not been brought to justice for it responsible court soldier.
Friday’s preliminary hearing continued, according to the NYT.