French court to hear appeal of 5 ex-Gitmo prisoners

PARIS (AFP) - A Paris court on Monday is to hear an appeal by five former French detainees at the US prisoner camp in Guantanamo against their one-year jail sentences on terrorism charges. The five men were each given a one-year prison sentence and suspended sentences of up to four years by a lower court on December 17 last year. They were captured in 2001 during the US-led war to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan and handed over to US forces. Held for up to three years at the Guantanamo detention centre in Cuba, they were charged upon their return to France in 2004 and 2005 with "criminal conspiracy in relation to a terrorist enterprise." Brahim Yadel, 37, was sentenced to five years, of which four were suspended, while Mourad Benchelalli, 26, Nizar Sassi, 27, Khaled Ben Mustapha, 35 and Redouane Khalid, 39, were given four-year prison terms of which three years were suspended. A sixth defendant, Imad Achhab Kanouni, 30, was acquitted. The appeal is expected to last until Thursday.

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