05:05 pm
The Hamdan Jury (Almost) Listens to Me
This can’t be good news for the Bush Administration:
Osama bin Laden’s ex-driver, Salim hamdan, has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years imprisonment for supporting terrorism at the first US military trial in Guantanamo Bay. Hamdan’s acquittal of conspiracy to murder means that on time served he could be eligible for release in just six months, despite prosecutors’ pleas to give him no less than 30 years imprisonment.
I have argued that the next President should commute Hamdan’s sentence to time served. To their credit, that is for all intents and purposes what the jury did. Given the fact that they also refused to convict him on the conspiracy charge, this decision represents a pretty serious blow against the Bush Administration’s subvert justice.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Bushies don’t have arrows left in their dark quivver. Before the trial started, Administration officials intimated that even if he were found not guilty, Hamdan would not be released. If that proves to be the case, then the entire tribunal process truly is a farce.
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