Statement Explaining Silence of Defendants
Read by Matt Daloisio — May 27

U.S. v. Yasser Al Zahrani - AKA Matthew W. Daloisio Case No. 2008CMD1010
Judge Gardner & Ms. Acevedo:

I am here on behalf of Yasser Al Zahrani and my name is Matthew Daloisio, pro se defendant. I was arrested outside the Supreme Court.

As you know, thirty-five of us stand trial today after being arrested inside and outside of the Supreme Court on January 11th , 2008. This opening statement will explain why I, a pro se defendant, will not exercise my right to speak at this trial.

On January 11th , 2008, I stood at the Supreme Court on behalf of Yasser Al Zahrani, a 22 year old Yemeni Man, arrested at the age of 17 and never charged or tried, who on June 10th, 2006 apparently took his own life. His was the name I gave when I was arrested on January 11th, a day that marked six years of indefinite detention for many of the men at Guantanamo.

As we stand before you today, we are aware that in the five months since our arrest, we have made it further in the criminal justice system than these men have in over six years.

We understand that you, Judge Gardner, are not the reason Guantanamo is still open. We understand that it may be beyond your power to summon the men whose names appear on this court’s docket from their Guantanamo cells, to face their charges and their accuser…to have their day in court. We mean no disrespect in our position towards this trial. But we will not participate.

I and twelve others who will stand to join this statement and will read their names into the court record, will remain silent for the duration of the trial, in solidarity with the men in Guantanamo and elsewhere who have been held for years without ever getting into court. We are pro se defendants, and we are refusing to represent ourselves. We will not exercise our rights when our country continues to deny the rights of others.

On January 11th 2008, the day we were arrested, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled, in part, that the detainees at Guantanamo were not covered by a federal law that protects all “persons” against government action that intrudes on their religious freedom, because under the law, these men were not considered “persons.” Our silence throughout our trial is in solidarity with those our courts have ruled are “non-persons.”

We hope and pray our silence is heard. We hope and pray for justice, not for us who stand before you, but for those for whom we are all responsible. As the late Rabbi Joshua Heschel said, “In a free society, few are guilty, but all are responsible.” Yes, while we understand that each of us in this court may not be able to bring justice to the men in Guantanamo, we all share responsibility for this terrible chapter of our history.

I respectfully ask the court to proceed with my trial as I stand in silent solidarity with Yasser Al Zahrani, a man who will never have his day in court. I hope that we can work together to see that the other men still at Guantanamo see justice in their lifetimes.