They expect the proceedings to be closed to the public, as are most trials in China, and they note that the defendants will not have lawyers of their own choosing.
The president's order authorizes the secretary of defense to close proceedings to protect classified information.
David A. Martin, a former general counsel of the immigration service, said the rule permitting judges to close proceedings probably provided an adequate legal basis for secrecy.
On April 11, Colonel Pohl granted Mr. Nashiri's motion for unshackled visits without taking testimony, so he sidestepped, for now, a decision on the standard that will govern requests to close proceedings at the Guantánamo trials.
And so-called rubber rooms, where New York City schoolteachers languished during disciplinary proceedings until officials moved to close them this year, may soon reopen, this time for city firefighters and police officers.
"I can appreciate that," the judge responded perfunctorily, then moved to close the proceedings.
And to the frustration of the news media, she has consistently tried to close some proceedings to the public.
The decision to close the proceedings angered Ms. Politkovskaya's supporters, who called it politically motivated.
His lawyer, Mr. Roth, with the government's consent, asked Magistrate Peck to close the proceedings, a transcript shows.
Judge Zubov, who had been widely condemned after he attempted to close the proceedings to the press, was hardly an authoritarian figure: one of the journalists dubbed him "Winnie the Pooh".
