MOROCCO: JUDGES GRANT PROVISIONAL RELEASE OF THREE MOROCCANS FORMERLY HELD IN GUANTANAMO BAY
Record ID:
647558
MOROCCO: JUDGES GRANT PROVISIONAL RELEASE OF THREE MOROCCANS FORMERLY HELD IN GUANTANAMO BAY
- Title: MOROCCO: JUDGES GRANT PROVISIONAL RELEASE OF THREE MOROCCANS FORMERLY HELD IN GUANTANAMO BAY
- Date: 20th December 2004
- Summary: (W8) RABAT, MOROCCO (DECEMBER 20, 2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. PAN/ WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF COURTROOM/PAN TO FRONT OF COURT 0.06 2. SLV RELATIVES OF SUSPECTS FILING INTO COURT 0.15 3. WIDE OF POLICE VANS CONTAINING SUSPECTS ARRIVING AT COURT 0.29 4. ZOOM INTO POLICE GETTING OUT OF MINIBUS 0.32 5. SLV POLICE WAITING BY GATE TO ESCORT THE SUSPECTS INTO COURT 0.37 6. VARIOUS OF POLICE SHIELDING SUSPECTS WALKING INTO COURT BUILDING FROM VAN / SIREN BLARING 0.47 7. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMED HILAL, LAWYER FOR BRAHIM BENCHEKROUN, SAYING: "We asked on what legal grounds the handover was made. Was it in the framework of a legal agreement between the two countries or has a third world war erupted without us knowing, so that they could be said to be war prisoners? "Now that they have been handed back to the Moroccan authorities with no legal grounds and because we don't know for what legal reasons they were detained in Guantanamo Bay for more than two years, we asked for the American ambassador in Morocco to be summoned to this court because he represents the U.S. administration that committed all these arrests and law violations." 1.24 8. CLOSE OF SIGN ABOVE COURTROOM EXTERIOR READING 'COURT NUMBER ONE' 1.28 9. VARIOUS OF MEDIA AND LAWYERS MILLING AROUND OUTSIDE COURTROOM 1.40 10. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HASSAN HALHOUL, LAWYER FOR REDOUANE CHAKOURI, SAYING: "We expect the court to give us the documents that were missing in our files, especially those that were mentioned many times by the prosecution. We asked to see these documents because they are essential for a just and fair trial." 2.07 11. CLOSE VIEW INTO COURTROOM THROUGH DOORWAY 2.13 12. WIDESHOT OF VIEW INTO COURTROOM 2.17 13. WIDE OF LAWYERS WAITING OUTSIDE COURTROOM 2.25 14. WIDE OF RELATIVES AND LAWYERS LEAVING COURTROOM 2.33 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 4th January 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: RABAT, MOROCCO
- City:
- Country: Mozambique Morocco
- Reuters ID: LVABYU5BFBCXFAIGPWIUULI5HE18
- Story Text: Judge grants provisional release to three Moroccans
formerly held at Guantanamo Bay.
A judge granted provisional release to three
Moroccans formerly held at Guantanamo Bay, including a man
said to have been Osama bin Laden's bodyguard, as their
trial on terror charges began on Monday (December 20),
lawyers said.
The three men who were expected to leave jail on Monday
night included Abdellah Tabarak, 49. Tabarak gained
prominence after U.S. media quoted U.S. State Department
memos as saying he had helped the al Qaeda leader escape in
the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan in late 2001.
Lawyers for the five men dismissed the reports as
fabrications probably fed to the media by U.S. intelligence
services and argued in court their clients' detention
lacked any legal ground. Under provisional release the men
will be monitored by authorities and cannot travel abroad.
Two other defendants released were Redouane Chakouri
and Mohamed Ouzar. Before the hearing in Rabat, Hassan
Halhoul, lawyer for Chakouri, said: "We expect the court to
give us the documents that were missing in our files,
especially those that were mentioned many times by the
prosecution. We asked to see these documents because they
are essential for a just and fair trial."
Of the five suspects Mohamed Mazouz and Brahim
Benchekroun were ordered to be held. The latter's lawyer,
asked the court "on what legal grounds the handover was
made." He added: "Was it in the framework of a legal agreement between
the two countries or has a third world
war erupted without us knowing, so that they could be said
to be war prisoners?
"Now that they have been handed back to the Moroccan
authorities with no legal grounds and because we don't know
for what legal reasons they were detained in Guantanamo Bay
for more than two years, we asked for the American
ambassador in Morocco to be summoned to this court because
he represents the U.S. administration that committed all
these arrests and law violations."
The judge postponed the hearings until December 27 to
allow defence lawyers additional time to prepare.
The five men, who appeared in court dressed in
traditional jellaba and cap, were captured in Afghanistan
in late 2001 during the U.S.-led war against the ruling
Taliban militia.
They were handed over to Moroccan authorities in August
after being imprisoned at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba.
Charges against them included belonging to or assisting
a criminal group "with the intent to commit terrorist
acts".
Tabarak's lawyer told Reuters last week that whatever
the five men were accused of did not take place in Morocco,
their transfer back home was illegal and they were never a
"criminal group" since they met in jail in Guantanamo.
One of Washington's strongest allies in the Arab world,
Morocco has sided with the U.S. administration in its
global war on terrorism. About a dozen Moroccans are still
believed to be held at Guantanamo Bay.
After al Qaeda-inspired suicide attacks in Casablanca
in May 2003 killed 45 people including 12 bombers, Morocco
passed sweeping counter-terror legislation.
More than 1,000 people have been jailed on terrorism
charges since then after what local and international human
rights groups called flawed trials with confessions
sometimes extracted by torture.
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