A surrogate of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday rejected a request by the Sept. 11 defense lawyers to let media organizations televise the Sept. 11 trial from the war court at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
William Lietzau, deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee policy, wrote the defense lawyers
that the Pentagon provides ample transparency for the trials through
news coverage, a remote viewing site at Fort Meade, Md., and a website
that posts transcripts of the pre-trial proceedings within 24 hours of
hearings.“At this time, there are no plans to televise military commission proceedings,” Lietzau wrote in a single-page response to the lawyers for five men accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
A total of 13 defense lawyers for the former CIA prisoners now facing military capital penalty proceedings wrote Panetta on Nov. 1 requesting that he use his authority as Secretary of Defense to enable the broadcasts... More
