9/11 Defendants Ignore Judge, Stretch Court Hearing Into 13-Hour Session With Their Disruptions

Accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-defendants willfully ignored the judge and stretched their arraignment hearing into nearly 13 hours with their antics Saturday.

(Related: 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Back Before Gitmo Judge)

They knelt in prayer and refused to speak or listen to the Arabic translations of the proceedings on their head sets. According to the Associated Press, one defendant even insisted on having the more than 20 pages laying out the charges against them read aloud -- rather than deferred for later as the judge wanted -- tacking more than two hours on to the session.

Defendant Walid bin Attash arrived in the Guantanamo Bay courtroom strapped into a restraining chair, released only after he promised to behave. According to CNN, he took off his shirt toward the end of the day as his attorney described injuries he allegedly sustained while in custody:

The judge told bin 'Attash, "No!" and warned that he would be removed from the courtroom if he did not follow directions.

At one point, bin 'Attash made a paper airplane and placed it on top of a microphone. It was removed after a translator complained about the sound the paper made against the microphone.

The defendants' refusal to speak brought the proceedings to a crawl -- Mohammed's lawyer said his client "will decline to communicate with the court."

AP:

[The judge, Army Col. James Pohl] brought translators into the courtroom to interpret the proceedings live once the men refused to use earpieces attempted to stick to the standard script for tribunals, asking the defendants if they understood their rights to counsel and would accept the attorneys appointed for them.

The men were silent.

The five also refused to enter their pleas -- a routine practice for such military court proceedings -- and passed around a copy of The Economist during court recesses.

According to CNN, one of the men broke his silence hours into the hearing to shout in accented English: "You may not see us anymore" and "They are going to kill us."

The next hearing is scheduled for June 12.