Defense in 9/11 case at Guantanamo urge US president to release details CIA program.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Defense lawyers for five men charged in the Sept. 11 attack appealed to President Barack Obama to declassify details of the CIA’s secret interrogation program of terrorist suspects as the latest installment in the long-running proceedings came to an end Friday.

The lawyers said in a letter to the president that the secrecy that cloaks the treatment of their clients in CIA custody is being used to cover-up what they say was torture and is now preventing them from getting a fair trial. They urge him to order the declassification of what is known as the rendition, detention, and interrogation program so that it can be discussed in open court as they mount their defense.

“Quite simply, the classification of the RDI program is suppressing evidence, suppressing the truth, and ultimately will suppress any real justice,” lawyers for all five defendants said in the letter.

The five face trial by military commission on charges that include terrorism, hijacking and nearly 3,000 counts of murder for their alleged roles planning and providing assistance to the Sept. 11, 2001, hijacking plot. They could get the death penalty if convicted. The prosecution proposed Friday that the trial start in January 2015 but defense lawyers say it will be impossible to complete the pretrial process by then.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/defense-in-911-case-at-guantanamo-urge-us-president-to-release-details-cia-program/2013/10/25/f19e9de6-3daf-11e3-b0e7-716179a2c2c7_story.html