The commander at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp has halted commercial flights to the site, so Red Cross workers, journalists and lawyers now have to pay for charter flights — at pop of $17,000 per ride.
The commander cited federal law to cancel the commercial air service that provided modest-priced service to those traveling from Florida to the Cuba base, Newser reports. Instead of having the option to travel at various times each day, travelers are now restricted to a single charter flight. On top of that, the commander gets to choose who can take the charter flight, Newser says.
Lawyers for Gitmo prisoners aren’t happy.
“Of late, the Defense Department has been trying to restrict lawyers’ access to imprisoned clients who do not have pending cases, it has been violating the attorney-client privilege, and now it is eliminating the only non-military route to Guantanamo,” said one attorney, in the Newser report.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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