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Friday, April 19, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Habeas Review Denied for Uncooperative Detainee

(CN) - A federal judge in Washington, D.C., dismissed the habeas petition of another Guantanamo detainee who refused to meet with his court-appointed attorney.

Muieen A Deen Jamal A Deen Abd al Fusal Abd al Sattar, a 34-year-old citizen of the United Arab Emirates, forfeited his habeas review by repeatedly refusing to see counsel, U.S. District Judge John Bates ruled.

Former Guantanamo detainee Sami al Hajj filed the petition on al Sattar's behalf in December 2006, and the court appointed al Sattar a public defender.

Al Sattar threatened Guantanamo officials who told him that a lawyer wanted to meet with him and tore up a letter from counsel urging him to reconsider his decision, according to the ruling. The court then modified an order to let Guantanamo staff hide the purpose of the meeting, but al Sattar still refused to meet with counsel.

His appointed attorney has visited Guantanamo five times without a meeting, Bates said.

"Al Sattar has given no indication during the almost three-year pendency of his case that he wishes this habeas action to proceed," Bates wrote, adding that al Sattar "has unequivocally rejected representation."

The court dismissed the habeas petition.

Al Sattar has been held at Guantanamo for seven years and eight months.

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