A lawyer who represented prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay was found dead last week in what sources are calling a suicide.

Andy P. Hart, 38, apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was a public defender in Toledo, Ohio. Hart left behind a suicide note and a thumb drive that is said to contain case files.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

Jason Leopold at Truthout:

Hart’s death comes amid escalating chaos that has engulfed Guantanamo over the past three months—from a mass hunger strike to military commissions and renewed pressure on the White House to shut down the prison facility. Hart was one of three-dozen Guantanamo attorneys who signed a letter in March urging Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel to take immediate action and bring about an end to the hunger strike.

… Truthout learned about the details of Hart’s death Wednesday from an investigator who has been tapped by attorneys to work on a number of cases involving Guantanamo prisoners’ habeas corpus petitions. The investigator requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

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