Technical Glitches and Boycotts in Opening of Gitmo Case

al-Bahlul, a Yemeni detainee at Gitmo denounced the trail as the new courtroom experienced lighting and AV difficulties. I guess al-Bahlul is another example of a mentally ill jihadist who does not believe in Western Justice. Fox News

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — First, the sound went out in the U.S. military's new war-crimes courthouse. Then the lights went dark. To top it off, the defendant announced he was boycotting the proceedings.

By anyone's account, Wednesday's debut of the new facility where the Pentagon hopes to try the alleged Sept. 11 terrorists did not go smoothly. Even the presiding judge, Army Col. Peter Brownback, got frustrated.

"I don't know what's wrong with the AV in this place," Brownback snapped after audiovisual equipment intermittently cut out as an interpreter translated the words of Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al-Bahlul.

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On Wednesday, a technical problem initially kept journalists in a spectators' gallery from hearing courtroom sound — the room is soundproof so speakers can be turned off when classified evidence is presented. And in a press room not far from the courthouse, a video feed froze, showing Brownback's mouth agape.

Later, sound carrying the English translation faded in and out, forcing journalists watching the closed-circuit television to rely on an Arabic-speaking colleague to tell them what al-Bahlul was saying.

The Yemeni detainee said he was boycotting the trial, that he does not recognize the military court and that the prosecution of Muslims at Guantanamo will only further enrage America's enemies.

"We will continue in our jihad and nothing is going to stop us," he said, using the Arabic word for holy war. "You look at yourselves as gods on earth. ... What happened on Sept. 11 is because of what you did."

A few minutes later, as a military prosecutor read the charges against al-Bahlul, the courthouse was plunged into darkness.

Alarms beeped. Dim backup lights sprang on immediately. Military guards jumped out of their seats and surrounded the detainee, who was not shackled and was sitting alone at one of six long defense tables.

Al-Bahlul, 39, is the fifth detainee to declare a trial boycott. He sat by himself because he did not want to be near his military attorney, Air Force Maj. David Frakt. He refused to answer questions about whether he accepts Frakt as his counsel and did not enter a plea.