Cablegate: Appeals Court Upholds Acquittal of Two Former

VZCZCXRO0071
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHKU #0851 1501343
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301343Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9253
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS KUWAIT 000851

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV KU TERRORISM
SUBJECT: APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS ACQUITTAL OF TWO FORMER
GITMO DETAINEES

REF: KUWAIT 319

(SBU) In a May 29 ruling, Court of Appeals Judge Mohammed
Al-Bahr upheld the Criminal Court's acquittal (reftel) of two
Guantanamo detainees transferred to Kuwait in September 2006.
Abdullah Kamel Al-Kandari (41) and Omar Rajab Amin (32) were
not in court for the ruling. After hearing the verdict, one
of the defendants' lawyers, Dr. Fayez Al-Dhafeeri, said,
"Today's ruling leaves no shred of doubt that those men were
innocent. Two courts have now proven them innocent after
they lost five years of their lives in Guantanamo," local
press reported. The public prosecution can appeal the case
to the Court of Cassation, Kuwait's highest judicial body.

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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s

Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
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LeBaron

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