Germany’s former SPD-Green government blocked release of Guantánamo prisoner Murat Kurnaz

According to the new information presented at these hearings, at the end of October 2005, having lost the national elections, the SPD-Green government sought to prevent Kurnaz’s release and return to Germany. This was despite the fact that Berlin had known for three years that Kurnaz was innocent and was likewise well aware of the criminal abuse of detainees held in the Guantánamo camp.

While the SPD-Green government publicly criticised Guantánamo for its “complete state of illegality” (Interior Minister Otto Schily in July 2004) and assured Kurnaz’s lawyer in writing that it had expressed “its concern and surprise to the US at a high level regarding the unresolved legal situation and the ongoing treatment of prisoners of Guantánamo” (Foreign Office, February 2004), behind the scenes it exerted immense pressure to ensure that Kurnaz remained in detention.

Involved in the conspiracy against Kurnaz was the Interior Ministry led by Schily (SPD), the Foreign Office headed by Joschka Fischer (the Greens) and the chancellery headed by Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), who is now foreign minister in Germany’s current grand coalition government (SPD-Christian Democratic Union-Christian Social Union). The key role in these intrigues was played by Steinmeier, who acted as liaison between the government and Germany’s secret services. On no less than eight separate occasions, the case of Kurnaz was discussed at meetings between government and intelligence officers held at the chancellery between January 2002 and January 2006.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2007/jan2007/kurn-j25.shtml