Judge orders five Gitmo detainees freed

Judge Richard J. Leon of Federal District Court in Washington said the five, Algerian nationals, including SCOTUS landmark name Lakhdar Boumediene, had been held unlawfully for nearly seven years and should be freed.

Leon said the evidence against the five was too thin to keep holding them; at the same time, he did say a sixth Algerian had enough evidence against him to keep in custody.

“The decision by Judge Leon lays bare the scandalous basis on which Guantánamo has been based — slim evidence of dubious quality,” said Zachary Katznelson, legal director at Reprieve, a British legal group that represents many of the detainees. “This is a tough, no-nonsense judge.”

The ruling also gives president-elect Obama perfect timing for leverage on closing Guantanamo.