“Even if those officials had no other involvement with Ghailani’s investigation or prosecution, the decisions at issue were so important to the timing and progress of this case that participation in decisionmaking renders those individuals members of the prosecution team, at least to the extent of that participation,” Kaplan wrote in his 13-page opinion.

Telling Southern District of New York Judge Lewis A. Kaplan the indictment against Ghailani should be dismissed on speedy trial grounds, … Michael K. Bachrach said the government’s claim that national security demanded the extended detention and interrogation of Ghailani could not be justified…

He was a fugitive until his capture in 2004 and he was subjected to what Bachrach said was “torture” in violation of the Geneva Convention and other international law, as well as military regulations.

“This motion asks one primary question,” … Michael K. Bachrach … wrote. “Can national security trump an indicted defendant’s constitutional Right to a Speedy Trial? We respectfully submit that the answer is emphatically and without qualification, ‘No.'”