Legal charity Reprieve has swiftly criticised the outcome of the trial completed today (Wednesday) against Guantánamo Bay prisoner Salim Hamdan, claiming the proceedings were unjust and illegal.

"Fighting terrorism is a deadly serious game, but the show trial of Salim Hamdan looks like amateur hour," said Zachary Katznelson, Legal Director of Reprieve.

"We heard during closing arguments that Salim Hamdan gave the US information about where Osama Bin Laden was – and the US botched the job. At the last minute of the trial, prosecutors realized they hadn’t proven some of the charges, so asked the judge to rewrite the law. And throughout, evidence gained from coercion – evidence that would never be allowed in a civilian or regular
military court – was allowed to form the very heart of the prosecution’s case.

"These trials need to be professional, clear and open. Instead, we’ve got a shambles that brings us no closer to justice,”

“These trials are not just about a few men and what they may have done – they are about the message the United States is sending to the world. And that message right now is flat wrong: convictions by any means necessary. The US needs to show it stands for openness and fairness – the very values we are fighting for. Instead, we get verdicts rammed down the gullet of justice."