Michel Paradis on Majid Khan
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 12 November 2021
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Majid Khan pled guilty in a military commission at Guantanamo eight years ago, but he has been back in the news of late. At a sentencing hearing at Guantanamo recently, he gave graphic testimony about his torture and treatment at the hands of the CIA and the military. He also took responsibility and showed remorse for his own conduct. His speech in the military commission was sufficiently moving that several members of the jury wrote a letter to the convening authority asking for clemency for Majid Khan.
To talk about the dramatic events, the history of the case, and the CIA program’s treatment of Majid Khan, Benjamin Wittes sat down with Michel Paradis, an appellate lawyer for the Office of Military Commissions Defense Counsel. They talked about what Majid Khan did, his history in al-Qaeda after a childhood in Baltimore, what was done to him, and whether with all this water under the bridge, something like justice could ever come from a trial.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following podcast contains advertising. |
| 0:04.0 | To access an ad-free version of the LawFair podcast, |
| 0:08.0 | become a material supporter of LawFair at patreon.com slash law fair. |
| 0:14.0 | That's patreon.com slash law fair. |
| 0:18.0 | Also, check out LawFair's other podcast offerings, |
| 0:22.0 | rational security, chatter, law fair no bull, and the aftermath. |
| 0:29.0 | I think that's a wonderful thing. I think it is a landmark moment in the history of these things. |
| 0:37.0 | But I struggle to equate that with justice. |
| 0:43.0 | I'm Benjamin Wittis and this is the LawFair podcast November 12th, 2021. |
| 0:51.0 | You could be forgiven if you had forgotten about the existence of Majid Khan |
| 0:57.0 | who pled guilty in a military commission at Guantanamo eight years ago. |
| 1:05.0 | But he has been back in the news of late at a sentencing hearing recently at Guantanamo. |
| 1:11.0 | He gave graphic testimony about his torture and treatment at the hands of the CIA and the military. |
| 1:21.0 | He also took responsibility and showed remorse for his own conduct. |
| 1:27.0 | His speech in the military commission was sufficiently moving that several members of the jury |
| 1:33.0 | wrote a letter to the convening authority asking for clemency for Majid Khan. |
| 1:40.0 | To talk about the dramatic events, the history of the case, |
| 1:45.0 | and the CIA programs, treatment of Majid Khan. |
| 1:50.0 | I was joined in the virtual jungle studio this week by Michelle Paradis, |
| 1:55.0 | longtime friend of LawFair, and a pellet lawyer for the Office of Military Commission's Defense Council. |
| 2:04.0 | We talked about what Majid Khan did, his history in al-Qaeda, after a childhood in Baltimore. |
| 2:12.0 | We talked about what was done to him, and we talked about weather with all this water under the bridge. |
... |
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