WASHINGTON (AFP) — Trial proceedings began Tuesday at a US local court for 35 people who were arrested in January during a demonstration calling for the closure of the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Protesters had gathered inside and outside the Supreme Court without prior authorization on January 11, the sixth anniversary of the "war on terror" prison, as part of the "Witness Against Torture" movement.
They face charges of either "unlawful free speech" or "causing a harangue," or in some cases, both. The counts each carry a maximum of 60 days in jail.
As part of the protest, they did not carry identification and are representing themselves in court under the names of various real-life Guantanamo detainees.
At the proceedings in DC Superior Court, the defendants, some dressed in orange to show solidarity with the detainees, waived their right to a lawyer. Some announced they would mount no defense at all and would not even speak.
Prosecutors offered to drop the charges but the 35 protesters chose instead an act that "symbolically grants the Guantanamo prisoners their day in court -- which the Pentagon has denied them for years," the group said in a statement.
"We will not exercise our rights when our country continues to deny the rights of others," Matthew Daloisio, who took the name of Saudi prisoner Yasser al-Zahrani, said in a written statement. Zahrani committed suicide in 2006.
"We pray and hope our silence is heard. We pray and hope for justice, not for us who stand before you, but for those for whom we are all responsible."
Those facing trial range in age from young to old, male and female. At least one is a Catholic priest.
The court proceedings could last until the end of the week.
Only a small minority -- those considered most dangerous -- of the remaining 270 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay still wear the orange prison jumpsuits. Most wear a beige outfit, while the most cooperative wear white.
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