GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Sept 7, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - The prosecution of alleged

September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others restarts
Tuesday, just days before the 20th anniversary of the attacks, stirring new
hopes for justice and retribution.

  Mohammed and his co-defendants, who have been locked up at the "War on
Terror" prison at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for nearly 15
years, will appear in the military tribunal here for the first time since
early 2019.

  But after a 17-month halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, the proceedings
appear likely to continue where they left off, mired in the defense's efforts
to disqualify most of the government's evidence as tainted by the torture the
defendants underwent in CIA custody.

  On Sunday, the new military judge, Air Force Colonel Matthew McCall -- the
case's eighth -- signaled a slow start, deciding that an initial hearing
focused on his own qualifications will take place on Tuesday. Lawyers for
both sides are allowed in a war crimes tribunal to question a new judge for
possible bias.

  The rest of the week will mostly involve meetings with the military
prosecutors and defense teams.

  With scores of motions lined up to demand evidence that military
prosecutors refuse to hand over, defense attorneys said the pretrial phase
could easily last another year, placing far over the horizon any hope for a
jury trial and verdict.

  Asked if the case could ever reach that point, one defense attorney, James
Connell, replied, "I don't know."

  - Lasting impact of torture -

  Attorneys say the five defendants -- Mohammed, Ammar al-Baluchi, Walid bin
Attash, Ramzi bin al-Shibh and Mustafa al-Hawsawi -- are all weak and suffer
the lasting effects of severe torture endured in secretive CIA "black" sites
between 2002 and 2006.

  Added to that, the attorneys say, is the cumulative impact of 15 years in
harsh, isolated conditions since arriving.

  They will appear in an ultra-secure military commissions courtroom
surrounded by fences of razor wire, each with his own defense team.

  In the audience will be family members of some of the 2,976 people they are
accused of murdering two decades ago, as well as a large contingent of
reporters to mark the confluence with the somber anniversary on Saturday.

  The five face the death penalty on charges of murder and terrorism in the
war crimes tribunal.

  They are represented by attorneys assigned by the military, as well as pro-
bono lawyers from the private sector and non-governmental organizations.

  - Open and shut? -

  Since the case started, prosecutors have regarded it as open-and-shut, even
without the tainted information reaped from the brutal CIA interrogations.

  Instead, prosecutors maintain that the defendants all provided solid
evidence of conspiring in the 9/11 attacks during so-called "clean-team"
interrogations conducted by the FBI in 2007, after the five arrived at
Guantanamo.

  But defense attorneys argue that the 2007 interrogations were hardly
"clean" because the FBI also took part in the CIA's torture program, and
their interrogations carried a similar menace.

  The defendants, still feeling the impact of torture at that time, spoke to
the FBI under the real fear that it would start again, the defense contends.

  "Make no mistake, covering up torture is the reason that these men were
brought to Guantanamo" instead of the US federal justice system, said
Connell, who represents Baluchi.

  "The cover-up of torture is also the reason that we are all gathered at
Guantanamo for the 42nd hearing in the 9/11 military commission," he said.

  - Delays -

  To prove their case, the defense is demanding huge amounts of classified
materials that the government is resisting turning over, on everything from
the original torture program to conditions at Guantanamo to health
assessments.

  Defense lawyers also want to interview dozens more witnesses, after 12
already appeared before the court, including two men who oversaw the CIA
program.

  The demands have delayed the trial, but the defense blames the government
for actively hiding materials relevant to the case.

  Alka Pradhan, another defense attorney, noted that it took the government
six years to admit that the FBI took part in the CIA's torture program.

   "This case wears you down," she said.

  "They are withholding things that are normal procedure in court."