WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the military to release one of its first Guantanamo Bay detainees, a 21-year-old man who has been detained and accused of being a terrorist since he was 14.
Mohammed el Gharani, who is of Chadian nationality but had lived in Saudi Arabia, should be released from the U.S. prison in Cuba “forthwith,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said in a ruling from the bench.
The military had accused el Gharani of being part of al-Qaeda, working for the Taliban and fighting American forces in Afghanistan. However, Leon said those accusations were based on testimony from other Guantanamo Bay detainees, which he found unreliable.
“Simply stated, a mosaic of tiles bearing images this murky reveals nothing about the petitioner with sufficient clarity, either individually or collectively, that can be relied upon by this court,” Leon said.
El Gharani listened to the ruling live by telephone from Cuba but did not react.
He could be on his way home to his family in a few weeks, lawyer Zackary Katznelson said. “Judge Leon did justice today.”
The government can appeal Leon’s decision. “We’re disappointed by the ruling and will consider our options,” Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said.
El Gharani was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 at a mosque by local police and was turned over to U.S. forces in 2002. He was one of the first Guantanamo Bay detainees and also one of the youngest.
He was accused of receiving military training from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and serving as a courier for several high- ranking members. He also is accused of fighting against U.S. and coalition forces at the battle of Tora Bora in Afghanistan in late 2001 and of being a member of an al-Qaeda cell based in London in 1998.
El Gharani denied all of the accusations.
