Former French Guantanamo detainees to face Paris trial News
Former French Guantanamo detainees to face Paris trial

[JURIST Europe] French authorities are charging six former French Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees with terrorism-related crimes, according to officials cited by AFP. The men are Nizar Sassi, Khaled Ben Mustapha, Redouane Khalid, Brahim Yadel, Imad Achab Kanouni, and Mourad Benchellali. Kanouni was previously suspected of visiting a terrorist camp in Afghanistan but was released from French custody [JURIST report] in July 2005 due to lack of evidence. All six are charged with connections to a criminal group engaged in a terrorist enterprise. Sassi and Benchellali will be facing the same charges [JURIST report] as in their previous detention in 2004 [AFP report], including that of falsification of documents.

The trial is scheduled for May in Paris. AFP has more. BBC News has additional coverage and AP has a local report [in French].

Angela Onikepe is an Associate Editor for JURIST Europe, reporting European legal news from a European perspective. She is based in the UK.