Even as the fate of Guantanamo Bay remains unresolved, the US has created one of the most high-tech military courts to try the detainees who were captured during the “war against terror,” that has been persisting since 9/11.
The electronic equipment in “Courtroom No. 2” is worth $4 million, according to the US military here who put the total cost of the “multidefendant” court at $12 million.
The large room was created to hold trials for five of the 9/11 hijackers but the hearings got stalled after President Barack Obama decided to transfer the trial to a federal court in 2009.
The US authorities describe this as a “top secret and above court” primarily because it contains a delayed audio feed for the press, NGOs and other observers who sit behind a glass wall in the court.
The setting up of glass barriers has been slammed by rights groups but the authorities justify this structure on the grounds that it allows for shield top secret information from becoming public even if it is accidentally revealed in the court.
In case, where a witness or a lawyer divulges information considered to be a threat to national security during the proceedings, a red light flashes in the room and the feed to the public is immediately cut off.