Military Court Upholds Life Sentence for Osama’s Media Specialist
- Posted on September 10, 2011 at 5:52pm by
Christopher Santarelli
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A U.S. military court has upheld the conviction and life sentence of a Guantanamo detainee from Yemen who served as Osama bin Laden’s media specialist.
Ali Hamza al-Bahlul was convicted in November 2008 of 35 counts of conspiracy, solicitation to commit murder and providing material support for terrorism.
But Bahlul had argued that his conviction should be reversed in part because none of the charges against him constituted war crimes that could be prosecuted by a military commission.
Bahlul and his attorneys also argued that his sentence was inappropriately severe, and an unconstitutional punishment for unpopular political speech.
The U.S. Court of Military Commission Review disagreed on all counts in a decision late Friday. The court acknowledged that while Guantanamo detainees have the right to challenge their detention in federal courts, Bahlul, a Yemeni, could not claim the protections of the First Amendment.
It is only the second time the court has reviewed a conviction.
The Miami Herald reports that Bahlul is Guantanomo’s lone convict serving a life sentence.
“Unlike bin Laden’s driver, who is free in Yemen after serving a quick support-for-terror sentence, Bahlul demonstrated no remorse during his military commission trial, the panel ruled in a 139-page decision written by Navy Capt. Eric Price.
Prosecutors argued at a four-day no-contest trial in November 2008 that Bahlul incited suicide bombers before the 9/11 attacks by producing a crude al-Qaida recruiting film. The two-hour video spliced footage of fiery bin Laden speeches with the aftermath of the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors off Aden, Yemen.”
According to the Miami Herald, Bahlul refused to mount a defense at the trial, only offering “a 40-minute monologue that paid homage to bin Laden.”
Bahlul was born on September 11, 1969.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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Comments (47)
georgiavietvet
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:57pmrose-ellen……………..you have your head so far up your ass, that you have to open your mouth to see daylight. if you were to take a good healthy s#$t, you would be flushing your head down the toilet. in case you don’t get the message, you are full of s#$t………………………….
Report Post »Welcome Black Carter
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 10:32pmYou pretty much have it covered. Thanks for your detailed review.
Report Post »El Pistoffo
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 10:48pmRose, oh Rose. Go crawl back under your rock. No one is interested in your crack pot talk.
Georgiavietvet pretty much nailed you on the head.
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:16amThose that seek to destroy this Nation or its Constitution should not and shall not reap its benefits.
Report Post »TH30PH1LUS
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 1:50amROSE-ELLEN
what does this mean to you? Genesis 15: 18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (the territory of) 19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, 20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Report Post »majorsco
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:48pmHe should serve his life sentence as Nancy Pelosi’s roommate. But that may be cruel and unusual punishment, for him that is!
Report Post »Steve
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:52amI heard that MSNBC is still extending a job offer just in case Al (Tawana Brawley) Sharpton doesn’t cut it. (sarcasm)
Report Post »Infidel49
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:42pmLife, get the damn rope and make it nice and tight.
Report Post »2ndrevolution
Posted on September 11, 2011 at 2:18amPerhaps the tradition of the muslims would be better. Simply be-head the animal.
Report Post »manster35
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:36pmHe should only have the death penalty.
Report Post »Midwest Blonde
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:28pmRose Ellen – got a question for you.
Are you or hour spouse Muslim? Seems like that’s a real possibility to me (and others, I’m sure)
Report Post »GIBrett
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:20pmI read this whole article thinking it was the media specialist for Obama…. sadly I was more surprised when I found out it wasn’t than I was when I thought it was Obama…
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 7:22pmPut him on the rack a good slathering of pigs blood and start pulling slowly.
Report Post »Libby Tarian
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 7:21pmWhen will Obama get his life sentence? Hurry, pass the Verdict!
Report Post »junkmaninohio
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:03pmDon’t worry, the ACLU and Eric Holder will spring this guy within the year.
Report Post »lel2007
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 7:13pmLife sentance? We’ve got to support this Aszhole for the rest of his life? Kill the S O B and be done with it.
Report Post »zoro51
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 7:12pmI PITTTY no camel SEND HIM INTO HELL NOW no waiting do it
Report Post »rose-ellen
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:00pmLife in prison for “incitement” by making a film?Wow! All of Fox and most of the american media is about encitement -against muslims! So much for freedom of expression.And that this was not done here and that we never declared war on anyone -makes us hypocrites and tyrants and our claims of being a nation of laws and upholders of rights and freedoms bogus.When the going got tough we showed our true colors-our professed values and beliefs which we tauted made us better then all other nations and people on the face of theearth-“a nation of laws not of men ”-were as bogus and paper thin as those papers flying out those windows! I feel sorry for him .The only comfort is knowing that you’re now in a perpetual state of behaving like paranoid felons always on the lookout you might get “caught”.There is justice in that fact.
Report Post »junkmaninohio
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 8:05pmRose-Ellen….did you get a bargain on your new prayer rug? How’s that burka working out for you?
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 7:11pmMake sure he get’s conjugal visits with Rose-Ellen. They deserve each other!
Report Post »Walkabout
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 7:08pmThe Muslim Goebbels.
At Nuremberg they would have passed what sentence on Goebbels had he not committed suicide?
He was the NAZI propaganda minister.
Life in prison is a light sentence for him.
Report Post »thecrow
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:53pmI thought this guy was Osama’s “media specialist”:
http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/the-talented-mr-pearlman/
Report Post »db321
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:45pmInst this guy a special guest at the 911 Memorial on Sunday.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:32pmFine, if he appeals to the Federal courts (which if I read the article right he may do so), let them see if the sentence will hold up or be changed or even retried. Otherwise leave him to serve out his full life term and when he passes onward, send his body to join UBL in the depths of the oceanic abyss.
Report Post »Welcome Black Carter
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 10:34pmIndeed…
Report Post »Dug2Dark
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:27pmI hope they hang that new American liberal women calendar that might be coming out in his cell. That might make him think twice about all those virgins that are waiting for him.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:40pmActually I can see the first post life encounter he has with his old boss UBL:
“Hey Boss, uh, why is there flames all over the place…and why are there 72 goats smiling at me and the guy with the red suit and pitchfork is calling you doggie…and me as well?”
Report Post »TheCrankyCodger
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:26pmHe’s not an Islamic extremist or Muslim Terrorist – He’s a promoter of Man Made disasters – Remember Obama doesn’t want us to use those terms anymore.
Report Post »momprayn
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:20pmThis reminded me of when the whole thing with bin Laden went down and nearly everyone was accidentaly saying, writing “Obama” instead of “Osama”. Hmmm….then I started thinking about how Obama’s regime are also terrorists…..we know they’re liars, racists, hate traditional America, Christians, Israel and have probably used fraudulent measures to get power, in the process of destroying this nation. Maybe that Osama/Obama slip was really just indicative of the truth.
Report Post »vinnymac46
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:19pm…man this guy fooled everybody, he is a MEDIA SPECIALIST people, he knew he wasn’t going to get his sentenced overturned but he also knew his second trial would be made public so we paid for his little monologue to the Bil Laden, courtesy of the USA.
Report Post »clockwatcher
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:15pmShoot him, let him have all the hairy, stinking muslim vigrins he wants in hell.
Report Post »J4Y
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:14pmHe should never see the light of day again. Better still, stand him against a wall and let him see a firing squad!
Should have my new site finished soon, wooop :D
Report Post »http://israelisupporter.com
YepImaConservative
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:09pmWe have similar “Media Specialists” in Hollywood.
Report Post »avenger
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:03pmwhy house this SOB for the next 40+ years at tax payers expense ? EXECUTE HIM !
Report Post »Tear Em Up
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:01pmIs one life sentence enough???
http://traffic.libsyn.com/mikeleeandterrymartin/Number_80_September_10th_2011.mp3
Report Post »RootsOfTruth
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:14pmif we fry him 3 times… would he get 216 virgins?
Report Post »Patriot Z
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:35pmif we cut off his twig n berries it he WILL be the virgin.
Report Post »Obama Bin Lying
Posted on September 10, 2011 at 6:00pmMaybe next lifetime he will subscribe to a more peaceful Ideology other than Islam. Seems Islam didn’t work out all that well for him
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