A Guantanamo prisoner from Algeria lost a last-minute legal maneuver Wednesday to go home before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
(FOX)- U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer in Washington declined to intervene in a Defense Department decision not to repatriate Sufyian Barhoumi in the final days of the Obama administration.
A government review board approved the repatriation of Barhoumi in August. But Defense Secretary Ash Carter did not give final approval and issue a 30-day notice to Congress of his impending release as required by law.
In an emergency court petition, Barhoumi’s attorney, Shane Kadidal, said he feared that Barhoumi and a Moroccan prisoner in a similar situation might not make it out under Trump, who has said he wants to continue using the detention center on the U.S. base in Cuba.
Lawyers for the men argue that there is no longer any justification for holding them given the board’s decision, which found that both countries could adequately ensure neither man posed a threat in the future.
Kadidal said he had expected Barhoumi to be released and the prisoner’s family had already begun making preparations for his return, including by buying him a car and a small restaurant for him to run.