Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, a Pakistani, has been charged with conspiracy, attacking civilians and civilian objects, causing serious bodily injury, murder and destruction of property in violation of the laws of war, hijacking, terrorism and providing material support for terrorism, based on claims that he ordered flight training videos and transferred large sums of money to the 9/11 hijackers in the US. The government is prosecuting Abdul Aziz Ali with four others, all of whom are alleged to have been involved in the planning and execution of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and is seeking the death penalty for all of them.
Abdul Aziz Ali was reportedly arrested and transferred to US custody in April of 2003. He was held in secret CIA detention until September 2006 when he was transferred to Guantanamo.
In November 2009 Attorney general Eric Holder announced that Ali Abdul Aziz Ali along with four co-defendants in the 9/11 prosecution, would be moved from Guantanamo to stand trial in federal district court in New York City. However, after New York officials raised objections based on purported security and cost concerns, the Obama administration suspended its decision to move the case to federal court. Finally, on April 4, 2011, Holder reversed course and announced that the co-defendants would be tried before a military commission in Guantanamo.
In May 2012, Abdul Aziz Ali and the other four co-defendants were arraigned in a military commission at Guantanamo. The case has been in pre-trial hearings ever since and a trial date is likely years away. The delay is the result of the military commissions system’s use of new rules that have not been tested, the US government’s decision to classify important evidence related to the defendants’ torture in CIA custody, and the commissions' remote location at Guantanamo, among other things. (Last updated August 9, 2018)
