GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy attorney representing a Yemeni prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba says the panel of judges is unqualified.
Lt.-Cmdr. Charles Swift opened the first day of trial for terror suspect Salim Ahmed Hamdan with aggressive motions calling for the resignation of retired Army Col. Peter Brownback III, a former military judge advocate and judge appointed by the Pentagon as the chief officer presiding over the commission.
Swift also called for all but one of the five members of the panel to be replaced on grounds they lack the legal qualification to rule over the case, the Washington Times reported.
"What the government seeks to do is punish my client for a crime they made up after he allegedly committed it," Swift told reporters. He said Hamdan was already in custody at Guantanamo when the statute charging him was written.
Hamdan is accused of serving as al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's driver and of war crimes for his suspected involvement in the terror network.
