Free Gitmo Detainee, Judge Orders, Says US Position ‘Defies Common Sense’

Posted Jun 22, 2009, 07:26 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

Finding that a captured videotape of Abd Al Rahim Abdul Rassak shows him being tortured by al-Qaida as a suspected American spy, a federal judge has rejected as ridiculous a U.S. government position that he continues to be a legitimate detainee in a terrorism case.

In a 13-page habeas corpus opinion today, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of the District of Columbia says the government is "taking a position that defies common sense" and orders Rassak freed from the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The judge also resorts to unusual punctuation ("I disagree!") to make his point, according to the Politics blog of FOX News. Rassak now uses the last name Janko, the news agency notes. . . .more

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