But Hey, At Least They Had Lawyers

More on the Guantanamo suicides. Turns out two of them had lawyers, and one was about to be released.

From the Miami Herald:

The Yemeni captive who killed himself at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had an attorney arranging to visit him in August, but did not know it when he committed suicide.

One of the Saudis, Mani Shaman al Utaybi, 30, had been approved for transfer to a jail back home, but also had never been told he was cleared to depart the U.S. detention center.

Oh, and this bit:

But attorneys for the men_who the military initially said had no lawyers_say that had the detainees known of legal efforts on their behalf, they might be alive today.

Emphasis not mine, I tend to use boldface.

Here is the Pentagon, in rebuttal:

The Pentagon said Ahmed and Utaybi were part of the al-Qaida terror movement. It identified the third man, Yasser Talal al Zahrani, 21, as an alleged Taliban fighter who arrived at Guantanamo as a teenager.

Of course, now that they no longer have to prove these statements with a trial, the prosecutors can say whatever they want. Wait, who am I kidding? They never had to prove these statements with a trial.