[JURIST] An Algerian criminal court acquitted former Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive] detainees Abdulli Feghoul and Terari Mohamed on Sunday, according to the Algerie Presse Service (APS) [state news website, in French]. Feghoul and Mohamed were repatriated [DOD document, PDF; JURIST report] to Algeria in August 2008 after being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility for seven years. The Algerian state prosecutor had sought a 20-year sentence against Feghoul and Mohamed for allegedly belonging to a foreign terrorist group. Defense lawyer Farid Abbache stated [AP report] that while the former detainees admitted to be involved in theft and illegal drug trade, they denied any connection with terrorist groups.

Last week, a federal judge ordered the release [JURIST report] of Algerian Guantanamo Bay detainee Farhi Saeed Bin Mohammed. Earlier this month, lawyers for four Uighurs at Guantanamo Bay filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, challenging an appellate ruling [JURIST reports] that prohibited courts from preventing the transfer of detainees to foreign countries for fear of prosecution or torture. In September, a judge denied [JURIST report] the habeas petition of Algerian detainee Sufiyan Barhoumi. Since the US Supreme Court's 2008 decision in Boumediene v. Bush [opinion, PDF; JURIST report], 30 Guantanamo Bay detainees have been released based on unlawful detention suits.