Guantánamo detainee wins asylum appeal
An Algerian Guantánamo detainee has been given a second chance to have his asylum request considered by the Swiss authorities.
The Federal Migration Office must now re-examine the file after the Federal Administrative Court accepted the man’s appeal.
The Algerian, who has been held at the US military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since 2002 after being detained in Pakistan, submitted an asylum application to Switzerland in July 2008.
US investigators accuse the man of having been active within an armed group linked to Al-Qaida. However the accused claims he was undertaking voluntary work for a humanitarian organisation.
A complaint against the legality of his detention is currently before the American courts.
The Federal Migration Office gave insufficient grounds for its refusal of the Algerian’s initial application, the administrative court judges in Bern found.
Earlier this week an Uzbek national, currently being held in Guantánamo, was granted asylum by the Swiss authorities. Two other cases are still being considered by the Swiss court.
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