Moroccan Court Rejects Provisional Release of Two Former Guantanamo Detainees

28/12/2004

[AFP] Rabat Appellate Court

On Monday (27 December), the criminal chamber of Rabat's appellate court rejected a request for the provisional release of two of five Moroccans formerly detained in the US base at Guantanamo, Cuba. Provisional releases were granted to three of them. The five men were handed over to Morocco last August by US authorities after their arrest by the military in Afghanistan.

The appellate court also refused to postpone the hearing, a delay that would grant lawyers more time to prepare their cases. The five former Guantanamo detainees are facing charges of belonging to a criminal organization, refusal to denounce a crime harmful to the state, money laundering for a criminal organization and manufacturing false passports. (MAP)