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Panel Considering Rights of Terrorism Defendants

Aired June 03, 2003 - 15:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is a pivotal day in court for prosecutors in the defense in the case against suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui. Our justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, is with us now from Richmond, Virginia. Kelli, some fast-moving developments there?
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Judy. The first part, the public part of this hearing has just ended. That was a hearing before a three-judge appeals court panel.

Basically, the issue is whether or not Zacarias Moussaoui has the right to question al Qaeda operatives who are in U.S. custody who he believes could help clear him of any involvement in the September 11 attacks. Now the Justice Department -- and the argument was made by the Assistant Attorney General, Michael Chertoff, who is in charge of the criminal division at justice, he basically said this: He said the sixth amendment right does not extend to witnesses who are non- citizens and are being held at an overseas location.

And even if it did, then there's no -- that would interrupt -- questioning this witness would interrupt a military operation. Now we're specifically talking about access to a witness named Ramzi Binalshibh, who is an accused terrorist and, according to U.S. investigators, was a planner of the September 11 attacks. Moussaoui has repeatedly tried to gain access. The district court has said, yes, you can have access through a video hookup, but the government has rejected that.

Now the defense for Moussaoui was in court today and they said, look, if you're not going to turn over a witness, well then this has to go back to the district court and there has to be a decision made. Either this case gets thrown out because you're not willing to play by there rules of the civil court, or there has to be some sanction against the government.

There will be no decision today, Judy, on this issue. The appeals court could take weeks, if not months, to determine where this goes from here. And in the meantime, the case against Moussaoui remains on hold.

WOODRUFF: All right. Kelli Arena reporting for us from Richmond. Surely this is, to date, the highest profile legal test underscoring the difficulties in protecting due process rights for these accused terrorists. Thanks very much, Kelli.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com





Aired June 3, 2003 - 15:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it is a pivotal day in court for prosecutors in the defense in the case against suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui. Our justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, is with us now from Richmond, Virginia. Kelli, some fast-moving developments there?
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Judy. The first part, the public part of this hearing has just ended. That was a hearing before a three-judge appeals court panel.

Basically, the issue is whether or not Zacarias Moussaoui has the right to question al Qaeda operatives who are in U.S. custody who he believes could help clear him of any involvement in the September 11 attacks. Now the Justice Department -- and the argument was made by the Assistant Attorney General, Michael Chertoff, who is in charge of the criminal division at justice, he basically said this: He said the sixth amendment right does not extend to witnesses who are non- citizens and are being held at an overseas location.

And even if it did, then there's no -- that would interrupt -- questioning this witness would interrupt a military operation. Now we're specifically talking about access to a witness named Ramzi Binalshibh, who is an accused terrorist and, according to U.S. investigators, was a planner of the September 11 attacks. Moussaoui has repeatedly tried to gain access. The district court has said, yes, you can have access through a video hookup, but the government has rejected that.

Now the defense for Moussaoui was in court today and they said, look, if you're not going to turn over a witness, well then this has to go back to the district court and there has to be a decision made. Either this case gets thrown out because you're not willing to play by there rules of the civil court, or there has to be some sanction against the government.

There will be no decision today, Judy, on this issue. The appeals court could take weeks, if not months, to determine where this goes from here. And in the meantime, the case against Moussaoui remains on hold.

WOODRUFF: All right. Kelli Arena reporting for us from Richmond. Surely this is, to date, the highest profile legal test underscoring the difficulties in protecting due process rights for these accused terrorists. Thanks very much, Kelli.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com