Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com). Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it exclusively produces is in the public domain. June 6, 2008 9/11 Suspects Arraigned at Guantanamo -------------------------------------- http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1C8C8EB:A6F02AD83191E160FE14697E0F0BA5D921A4E82C900CD027& US government formally presents charges of conspiracy in murder of nearly 3,000 people in attacks in Washington and New York, and crash of a hijacked airliner in Pennsylvania The alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks and four alleged co-conspirators were arraigned on terrorism and murder charges Thursday at a military hearing on the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The men could face the death penalty. VOA's Al Pessin is there and filed this report. A sketch by courtroom artist Janet Hamlin, reviewed by the US military, showing four of the Sept. 11 attacks co-conspirator suspects, Guantanamo Bay US Naval Base, Cuba, 05 June 2008 Wearing traditional white outfits, the men charged with planning, financing and facilitating the September 11 attacks, made their first public appearances since their arrests, as long as five years ago. Under an agreement between the judge and their military lawyers, their opportunity to plead innocent or guilty was postponed until a future court session. The six-hour hearing, plus breaks for meals and Mulsim prayers, was marked by chantings from the Koran by the most notorious defendant, the confessed mastermind of the September 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Speaking in English, he called the process an Inquisition, said he was tortured during his five-year detention and said he hopes to be executed. Mohammed appeared with black-rimmed glasses and a long, bushy gray beard. During the hearing, the defendants sparred with the judge, U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Ralph Kohlmann, over their access to attorneys and whether the U.S. military has the right to try them. In the end, they all asked to represent themselves. In this sketch by courtroom artist Janet Hamlin, reviewed by the U.S. Military, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali at his arraignment at the U.S. Military Commissions, at Guantanamo Bay, 05 Jun 2008Alleged al-Qaida member Ali Abdul Aziz Ali rejected the judge's offer of military lawyers free of charge, saying he had been tortured free of charge for five years. He said he would have appreciated having a lawyer on the day he was arrested, but that it is shameful for the United States to put him on trial now, particularly because he has been allowed very little contact with the lawyers assigned to represent him. He called the proceedings a stage play. Detainee Ramzi Bin Al-Shibh, who said he would have been among the September 11 hijackers if he could have gotten a U.S. visa, chided the judge on the pronunciation of his name, and said he is being forced militarily to take some medication, which one of his lawyers described as psychotropic. He was the only detainee shackled to the floor during the hearing. The other defendants are Mustafa al Hawsawi, who allegedly worked closely with Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, and Walid Muhammed Attash, who is accused in the September 11 attacks and the attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. The judge said the detainees were required to attend this arraignment, but will be allowed to stay away from later stages of their trial if they want. Reporters and human rights activists were allowed to watch and hear the session, with an audio delay so a security official could block the publication of any secret material. The audio and video feeds were stopped twice. No recording or picture-taking was allowed, but sketches by an artist will be distributed. The detainees took the opportunity of being together to engage in a series of animated conversations up and down the row where they sat at the side of the courtroom, sometimes smiling and even laughing. An attorney representing Hawsawi said he was being intimidating into rejecting the military legal team appointed to represent him, and asked for his case to be separated from the others. The judge said he would rule on that later. On Wednesday, the head of the military commissions process vowed the trials would be fair and open. But Thursday, defense attorneys, military and some civilian, and human rights activists all blasted Thursday's hearing as unfair. Judge Kohlmann allowed the defendants to speak fairly freely, but cut off their attorneys several times when he felt they were speaking out of turn, telling them sharply to Sit down! This military commissions process, created specially for suspects in the war on terror, is highly controversial. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the original plan, and is now considering a case that could invalidate the current, revised process. .