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Legal victory for Gitmo detainees

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(CNN) -- Military judges at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, threw out war crimes charges against an aide to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and against a Canadian accused of killing a U.S. soldier.

In both cases on Monday, the military judges dismissed the charges based on a lack of jurisdiction.

Omar Khadr is accused of killing Sgt. Christopher James Speer, a U.S. soldier whose reconnaissance patrol was ambushed in Afghanistan in 2002. Khadr was 14 or 15 years old at the time and remains one of the youngest Guantanamo prisoners.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who said he served as bin Laden's driver and bodyguard, was at the center of a 2006 Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Bush administration's use of military tribunals to try suspected terrorists. The court ruled the tribunals unconstitutional because they did not allow prisoners to challenge their detention by U.S. authorities.

Congress responded by passing the Military Commissions Act, which gives those facing trial a limited right to appeal any conviction and reduces the jurisdiction of federal courts. The Supreme Court acted under that law in April in rejecting a new challenge by Hamdan and Khadr.

Hamdan was relieved that he will have a better chance at a fair hearing, said his defense counsel, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift. "That's all he's ever asked for," Swift said.

Australian David Hicks, who was detained without charges at Guantanamo Bay from January 2002 until this past March, pleaded guilty to providing material support to al Qaeda. Under a plea deal, he was sentenced to a nine-month jail sentence that he was allowed to serve in Australia. He's expected to be released in December.

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