Military attorneys told an appeals court that a judge can forcibly shaved off Maj Nidal Hasan’s beard before his murder trial. Hasan is accused of opening fire at a deployment center at Fort Hood, Texas, on November 5, 2009 and faces 13 charges of premeditated murder and 32 charges of attempted premeditated murder in the shooting at the sprawling Army base. If covicted of murder Hasan will face death penalty.
Even as the 41 year old Hasan grew a beard as an expression of his religious beliefs the attorneys see it as violation of Army grooming regulation.
The attorneys argue that forcibly shaving Maj Nidal Hasan’ beard would not violate the American-born Muslim’s religious freedoms. If the judge has authority to bind and gag a disruptive accused (soldier), then certainly he has authority to forcibly shave (Hasan), they say.