Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BRUSSELS868
2009-06-24 15:43:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Brussels
Cable title:  

CHARGES AGAINST FORMER GUANTANAMO DETAINEES

Tags:  PGOV PTER KJUS BE 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8036
RR RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHBS #0868 1751543
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241543Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9112
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L BRUSSELS 000868

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/WE, S/CT AND S/GC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/22/2019
TAGS: PGOV PTER KJUS BE
SUBJECT: CHARGES AGAINST FORMER GUANTANAMO DETAINEES
DISMISSED IN BELGIUM

Classified By: Acting Political Economic Counselor Robert Kiene, reason
1.4(b) and (d).

(C) On May 26 Belgian newspapers reported that criminal
charges against two Belgian citizens, Moussa Zemmouri and
Mesut Sen, had been dismissed by a Belgian court on request
of Belgian prosecutors. Zemmouri and Sen, both born in
Belgium, had been arrested in Afghanistan by U.S. troops and
held in Guantanamo, but were released in 2005 and repatriated
to Belgium. On June 12, Embassy Legatt spoke to Deputy
Federal Prosecutor Bernard Michele. Michele said that upon
Zemmouri and Sen's release from Guantanamo, Belgian
prosecutors attempted to initiate a "criminal association"
case against them based on association with ordinary criminal
elements not related to Al Qaida or alleged terrorist ties.
The prosecutors attempted to gather as much information on
the two as possible while the charges were pending. However,
they were unable to create a strong criminal case against
Zemmouri and Sen and therefore decided to request dismissal
of the charges. Michele said that he was disappointed that
so little specific information on the two was provided by the
USG when they were returned to Belgium.
.