Three former inmates of the controversial U.S. detention centre at Guantanamo bay, who are being held in a detention camp in Medvedov, Trnava, are to be granted permanent residence in Slovakia.
41 year old Rafiq Bin Jalud al Hami a Tunisian born German, spent more than seven years behind Guantanamo’s gates, while Egyptian Adel Fattough Ali Al Gazzar (44) and Azerbaijani Polad Sabir Sirajov (35) endured more than eight years imprisonment. As has been the case with many detainees, not one of the men faced formal criminal charges. The trio look set to take full advantage of any protection offered by their residency status which will go through as soon as the required documents are sent over to the Interior Ministry’s migration office.
The three men who until recently hadn’t wanted their identities made public, found their way over to Europe and Slovakia in January under a Slovak-U.S. agreement after President Barack Obama decided to finally order the closure of the Draconian Cuban-based camp.