Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri's lawyers seek competency hearing

Defense attorneys for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the suspected organizer of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, are seeking to delay his military trial to determine his mental competence. Al-Nashiri faces the death penalty for the bombing off the coast of Yemen that killed 17 U.S. sailors.

Al-Nashiri’s lawyer, Allison Ferber Miller, filed a request in a Washington, D.C. federal court to pause proceedings until a military commission can conduct a meaningful competency evaluation. A defense psychiatrist reported in August that al-Nashiri is “not competent,” citing a traumatic brain injury, complex post-traumatic stress disorder, and major depression. The defense argues these conditions arose from torture, including waterboarding and physical abuse, while he was in CIA custody at clandestine detention facilities.

The trial is scheduled to take place at a U.S. Navy base in Cuba and is expected to last up to five weeks.