Wednesday, February 15, 2012

DOD Announces Charges Referred Against Detainee Majid Shoukat Khan

The Defense Department announced today that the convening authority, Office of Military Commissions, referred charges to a military commission in the case of “United States v. Majid Shoukat Khan”.  The referred charges allege, among other things, that Khan attempted to assassinate former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, anddelivered $50,000 in al Qaeda funding to finance the bombing of the J.W. Marriott hotel in Indonesia in August 2003, resulting in the killing of eleven people, wounding at least eighty-one others, and severely damaging the hotel. 

Based on these allegations and others outlined in the charge sheet, Khan is charged with conspiracy, murder and attempted murder in violation of the law of war, providing material support to terrorism, and spying.

The convening authority referred the charges to a non-capital military commission. In accordance with Military Commissions rules and procedures, the chief trial judge of the military commissions Trial Judiciary will assign a military judge to the case, and Khan will be arraigned at Guantanamo within 30 days of service of the referred charges upon him.

The charges are only allegations that the accused has committed offenses punishable under the Military Commissions Act, and the accused is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

More information, including the relevant charge sheet, is available at the Office of Military Commissions website at http://www.mc.mil.

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