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This is a blog of liberal stance and independent mind

Tuesday 1 December 2009

Guilty Until Proven Guilty

Desperate times, desperate measures: the town of Standish, Michigan is down on its luck, so much so that it hopes to improve things by successfully bidding to bring inmates from Guantánamo Bay (aka “Gitmo”) to a nearby, and otherwise disused, facility. Some of the responses have been truly bizarre.

Some assume that the detainees are all terrorists, although no charges have been laid, and no trials started. Others suggest they will break out of the jail and rape their way around the county, although none were detained on those grounds.

The most bizarre assertion of all is that having the detainees in the nearby prison will make the area a terrorist target. And how many terrorist actions have been targeted on Guantánamo? Well, as far as is known, none.

The ultimate solution is, as ever, straightforward: bring forward the evidence, put the detainees on trial, and apply the appropriate sentence to those found guilty. Otherwise set them free: being Muslim with Intent, or Reading the Qur’an with Malice Aforethought, are not indictable offences.

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