Noor Uthman Muhammed - Charges

Charges

On May 23, 2008 charges were initiated against Noor Uthman Muhammed . The charges won't be official until they are confirmed by Susan J. Crawford, the Office of Military Commissions Appointing Authoriy.

On 21 October 2008 Susan J. Crawford the official in charge of the Office of Military Commissions announced charges were dropped being dropped against Noor Uthman and four other captives, Jabran al Qahtani, Ghassan al Sharbi, Sufyian Barhoumi, and Binyam Mohamed. Carol J. Williams, writing in the Los Angeles Times reports that all five men had been connected by Abu Zubaydah -- one of the three captives the CIA has acknowledged was interrogated using the controversial technique known as "waterboarding".

Williams quoted the men's attorneys, who anticipated the five men would be re-charged in thirty days. They told Williams that: "... prosecutors called the move procedural", and attributed it to the resignation of fellow Prosecutor Darrel Vandeveld, who resigned on ethical grounds. Williams reported that Clive Stafford Smith speculated that the Prosecution's dropping of the charges, and plans to subsequently re-file charges later was intended to counter and disarm the testimony Vandeveld was anticipated to offer, that the Prosecution had withheld exculpatory evidence.

The current charges against Noor Uthman were instated on 5 December 2008.

The Barack Obama Presidency was granted a continuance on October 21, 2009. The military commissions for five other captives have been granted continuances, until November 16, 2009.

On 13 November 2009, the Attorney General Eric Holder announced that Noor Uthman's case would continue in a military commission.

On April 8, 2010, Carol Rosenberg, writing in the Miami Herald, reported Captain Moira Modzelewski, the Presiding Officer over Noor's military commission, predicted she would require a year to review the secret evidence against Noor. According to Rosenberg the provisions within the Military Commissions Act of 2009 allowed the use of classified evidence, but only after a review by the Presiding Officer. The Prosecution could submit a summary of classified evidence, in lieu of the evidence itsel, but the Presiding Officer was required to review every document the summary was based on, to ensure it was a fair summary.

On September 21, 2010, Carol Rosenburg, again writing in the Miami Herald, reported that prosecutor Marine Major James Weirick stated that “Noor Uthman Mohammed for a number of years was the principal trainer and in charge of all training at the Khalden training camp in Afghanistan that provided numerous individuals who went on to serve for al Qaida.

On 15 February 2011, Noor Uthman Muhammed pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism, and conspiracy to providing material support to an international terrorist organization and terrorism. He was sentenced to 14 years of confinement.