Scottish Daily Mail

Guantanamo Briton tells his supporters to demand justice

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BRITAIN’S last Guantanamo Bay detainee pleaded his innocence last night as he thanked campaigner­s who have highlighte­d the scandal of his ongoing captivity.

Shaker Aamer, pictured, remains in legal limbo having spent 13 years in military prison without charge or trial.

In declassifi­ed extracts from the 48-yearold’s letters, shown to the Daily Mail, he told his campaigner­s: ‘Don’t ask for justice – demand it.

‘I am an innocent man and a good person who never participat­ed in any animal harm let alone [a] human being. We are in Gitmo [ the nickname for Guantanamo] as the black sheep of US government.’ Mr Aamer, whose wife and children live in South London, also thanked politician­s for championin­g his case. He said: ‘I was shocked to see how much these MPs really care. I love these good people, not only for asking to release me, but for their effort to close Guantanamo.’

Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, a member of Parliament’s all-party group on Mr Aamer, used a foreign affairs debate in the Commons yesterday to urge ministers to step up the fight to free Mr Aamer.

‘He has never been charged, never been prosecuted, never been through any legal process whatsoever,’ Mr Corbyn said. ‘Can we have an undertakin­g from the Foreign Office to follow this up with real vigour to push the Obama administra­tion to name the date by which Shaker Aamer will be released and returned to his family?’

President Obama pledged to ‘prioritise’ the case in January.

But nearly six months on, the Saudi-born father-of-four is still behind bars. MPs are concerned the US is refusing to release Mr Aamer because of fears he would expose shocking levels of brutality inside the notorious naval facility in Cuba.

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