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US blocks release of hunger-striking Guantanamo detainee
http://www.dw.com/en/us-blocks-release-of-hunger-striking-guantanamo-detainee/a-18650724The US Justice Department has argued against the release of a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay who has been on hunger strike for more than eight years. The detainee has been held at the base in Cuba since 2002.
US blocks release of hunger-striking Guantanamo detainee
15.08.2015
Lawyers for Yemeni prisoner Tariq Ba Odah had issued a request for their client's immediate release on health grounds, warning he was at risk of imminent death.
Ba Odah, aged in his 30s, is believed to weigh just 33.5 kilograms (74 pounds) after going on hunger strike in 2007.
"All the president has to decide is whether to exercise his discretion not to contest the motion and release Mr. Ba Odah so that he does not die," said Omar Farah, an attorney with the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights who represents him.
Justice Department lawyers, however, blocked the request in a sealed filing delivered to a federal court in Washington on Friday. The department said a public version of the filing would be released at a later date.