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1 October 2014

Former Guantanamo detainee Moazzam Begg has terror case dropped for lack of evidence

Will be released from Belmarsh after seven charges dropped.

By New Statesman

Moazzam Begg, the British citizen who was held in Guantanamo Bay for nearly three years, has had seven terror-related charges related to the ongoing civil war in Syria dropped by prosecutors.

He was formally acquitted of all charges this morning by the judge, Mr Justice Wilkie. Begg, 45, appeared in court at the Old Bailey via videolink from his cell in Belmarsh prison, from where he is expected to be released shortly.

Begg was arrested on 25 February 2014, and charged with providing terrorism training and funding overseas terrorism. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Since his release from the extrajudicial detainment facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2005, Begg has become a campaigner against the anti-terror campaigns and policies of the British and American governments. In 2010 he and 15 other Guantanamo detainees received a substantial sum from the British government in a settlement over a lawsuit alleging its complicity in their alleged abuse and torture while there.

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