A federal judge has forcefully put Yemeni citizen Mohammed Mohammed Hassan Odaini on the path to freedom after eight years of incarceration at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In a 36-page opinion formally released Thursday, U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. called Odaini's continued detention "unlawful" and said he'd "emphatically" grant Odaini's petition for a writ of habeas corpus.
The ruling issued secretly last month but published Thursday sets the 26-year-old Odaini up for potential release, though when and where he'll go remains unclear. The ruling also represents the latest defeat for U.S. officials in their efforts to keep Guantanamo detainees behind bars.
"(U.S.) officials kept a young man from Yemen in detention in Cuba from age eighteen to age twenty-six," Kennedy wrote. "They have prevented him from seeing his family and denied him the opportunity to complete his studies and embark on a career."
Pointedly, Kennedy added that "the evidence before the court shows that holding Odaini in custody at such great cost to him has done nothing to make the United States more secure."
Federal judge calls Guantanamo inmate's detention 'unlawful'
The Trump administration has put together a plan to send immigration agents to the U.S.-Mexico border...
A US senator has condemned the Trump administration after she alleged that an Immigration and Customs...
A spike in Israeli military raids and settler violence across the occupied West Bank is driving...
The US Department of Justice has moved to eliminate rules protecting LGBTQ+ people from sexual abuse...
