JURIST - Paper Chase: UK judge orders hearing on government documents sought by Guantanamo detainee

[JURIST] A UK High Court judge has ordered [Reprieve press release] an expedited hearing on whether the UK government must turn over documents allegedly showing that the last British resident detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] was tortured. US military prosecutors last week charged [charge sheet, PDF; JURIST report] Ethiopian London resident Binyam Mohamed [Reprieve profile; JURIST news archive] with conspiring to commit terrorism. Mohamed was originally arrested in Pakistan and turned over to US officials; he says that in 2002 the US transferred him to Moroccan agents, who tortured him before he was sent to Guantanamo Bay in 2004. Last month, he sued the UK government [Reprieve press release, PDF; JURIST report] for refusing to turn over evidence allegedly needed for his defense. On Tuesday, the judge rejected arguments by government lawyers that turning over the requested evidence could force the eventual disclosure of more sensitive security information. The New York Times has more. BBC News has local coverage.

For most of 2007, Mohamed was one of five UK residents detained at Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive]. Three of those were released [press release; JURIST report] from US custody in December. A fourth British resident, Shaker Abdur-Raheem Aamer, a Saudi Arabian national, was to be returned there but his current status is unclear.

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