WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. authorities on Friday released a Guantanamo Bay detainee whose landmark Supreme Court case granted inmates at the U.S. military prison the legal right to challenge their confinement, officials said.
The detainee, Algerian national Lakhdar Boumediene, was released from custody and flown from the U.S. Navy base in Cuba to waiting relatives in France, said officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity.
The release came the same day the Obama administration was expected to announce new reforms to the military commission system set up to try detainees at Guantanamo. The proposed changes are intended to better safeguard the rights of detainees.
The U.S. Justice Department was expected to make a formal announcement about Boumediene’s release later on Friday, officials said.
Asharq Al-Awsat
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