NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City judge is set to hear arguments Monday before deciding if a terror suspect’s rights were violated when he was held at Guantanamo Bay instead of being prosecuted promptly in a U.S. court.
Lawyers for Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani (guh-LAHN’-ee) say the government erred by letting him be questioned for three years in the Cuban detention camp before he was moved to New York, where he becomes the first Guantanamo prisoner prosecuted in a civilian U.S. court.
Ghailani is accused of deadly bombings at two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998.
Prosecutors say the delay in bringing him to trial was to get information from him and protect the United States.
Rulings in his case could affect the New York prosecution of Khalid Sheik Mohammed (HAH’-leed shayk moh-HAH’-med), who’s accused of leading the Sept. 11 attacks.