[JURIST] The Pentagon’s war crimes prosecutor has stated that a review panel should hear transparency challenges concerning the September 11 trial. Brigadier General, Mark Martins, who is the prosecutor at Guantanamo [JURIST backgrounder] also insisted that the public must not hear about treatment of suspected 9/11 conspirators en route to Guantanamo. In filings submitted [text, PDF] on Thursday at the US Court of Military Commission Review, Martins defended a 40-second delay in what the public can hear about the experiences faced by five suspected 9/11 conspirators. Several news groups are appealing the order including the Miami Herald, ABC, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News, CBS, Fox, National Public Radio, Tthe New York Times, Reuters, Tribune Company, Dow Jones & Co., and the Washington Post. The appeal is unlikely to be resolved by April 22 when pretrial hearings commence for Khalid Sheik Mohammed [JURIST news archive] and his suspected conspirators concerning the 9/11 attacks.

This case involves the latest in a series of developments concerning the prosecution of suspected 9/11 conspirators. Last month the judge presiding over the 9/11 military tribunals granted defense lawyers access [JURIST report] for the first time to Camp 7, the secret facility where detainees are housed. Earlier that month lawyers for the US Navy contended [JURIST report] that surveillance equipment deployed throughout the Guantanamo Bay detention center was not used to breach attorney-client privilege. Also in February a military judge ordered the removal [JURIST report] of any monitoring system that censors the public broadcast of the hearings. In January the US declined to drop conspiracy charges [JURIST report] against accused plotters of the 9/11 attacks.