9/11 suspect unable to stand trial, US judge

• 9/11 suspect unable to stand trial.
• Ramzi bin al-Shibh has been diagnosed with PTSD.
• Al-Shibh was accused of helping organize the al-Qaeda cell.

A military judge presiding over the Guantanamo Bay trial of one of the five defendants charged in connection with the 9/11 attacks has ruled that the defendant, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, is not mentally fit to stand trial in a death penalty case.

Ramzi bin al-Shibh has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) along with associated psychotic features and a delusional disorder.

His lawyer has long contended that his client was subjected to torture by the CIA.

Scheduled to face pretrial proceedings, al-Shibh’s case has taken a different turn. Colonel Matthew McCall, the military judge at Guantanamo Bay, accepted the findings of doctors who had assessed al-Shibh’s mental state in August and concluded that he was psychologically damaged to the extent that he could not defend himself.

According to the doctors’ report, al-Shibh had become delusional and psychotic, rendering him incompetent to understand the nature of the proceedings against him or cooperate intelligently.

As a result of this ruling, al-Shibh has been removed from the case, and the trial was set to proceed with four other defendants, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to be the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.

The five defendants are accused of conspiring in the 2001 plane hijackings that resulted in nearly 3,000 casualties in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania.

Al-Shibh, a 51-year-old Yemeni national, was arrested in Pakistan in September 2002 and transferred to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.

His lawyers have asserted that he was subjected to torture by the CIA, leading to his deteriorating mental health. This has been an issue since his first court appearance in 2008, with reported outbursts during hearings over the years.

Al-Shibh was accused of helping organize the al-Qaeda cell in Hamburg, Germany, involved in the hijacking of one of the passenger jets that crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.

Guantanamo Bay, located in Cuba, was established by then-President George W. Bush in 2002 to detain foreign terrorism suspects following the 9/11 terror attacks in New York.

The camp has been widely criticized for interrogation methods considered torture and the prolonged detention of individuals without trial.

To stay informed about current events, please like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/BOLUrduNews/.

Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/bolnewsurdu01 and stay updated with the latest news.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://bit.ly/3Tv8a3P to watch news from Pakistan and around the world.

Also Read

French bus driver killed, two jailed over Covid mask regulation

French bus driver killed, two jailed over Covid mask regulation. They left...