Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane
Encyclopedia
Slimane Hadj Abderrahmane (born August 5, 1973) is a citizen of Denmark
who was held in extrajudicial detention
in the United States
Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba
.
His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 323.
The US Department of Defense reports he was born on August 5, 1973, in Roskilde
, Denmark. His mother is Danish and his father is Algeria
n.
Abderrahmane is reported to have been inspired to travel to Afghanistan in the late 1990s in a mosque in Grimhøjvej, founded by an Algeria
n refugee named Athme Meheri.
Danish journalist Morten Skjoldager described Meheri's mosque as a "radical mosque" in his book "Truslen indefra" ("the threat from within").
Abderrahmane was captured, in December 2001, in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border.
He was transferred to Guantanamo on February 10, 2002.
He was repatriated to Denmark on February 24, 2004.
Abderrahmane's explanation for how he came to be captured was that he had traveled there to enroll in an Afghan military training camp to undergoing training so he could go fight with Muslim rebels in Chechnya
.
Abderrahmane was held in Guantanamo Bay for over two years.
According to an article in US News & World Report he was released in spite of reservations from US security officials because the Danes had threatened to withdraw their troops if he was not released.
Abderrahmane was the subject of a 2004 book entitled "Den naive terrorist".
After his release Abderrahmane announced plans to travel to fight in Chechnya
.
He said he regarded the document he signed promising not to take part in terrorist activity as "toilet paper". Danish security officials talked him out of his trip.
He has said that Denmark's role in the Occupation of Iraq meant that he thought Danish leaders were legitimate military targets.
On 10 October 2007 in the Copenhagen
suburb of Greve, Abderrahmane was sentenced to 10 months in jail for the theft of two passports and three creditcards which he used to withdraw more than 110,000 Danish kroner (approximately US$ 20,000).
The items were stolen from the mail sorting office where Abderrahmane was working under a new Danish name.
Police only recovered a small proportion of the stolen money and it is unknown where or how the remainder of the money was spent. During the trial, Abderrahmane refused to testify. He also refused to speak to or co-operate with his assigned lawyer.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
who was held in extrajudicial detention
Extrajudicial detention
Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
His Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 323.
The US Department of Defense reports he was born on August 5, 1973, in Roskilde
Roskilde
Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network....
, Denmark. His mother is Danish and his father is Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n.
Abderrahmane is reported to have been inspired to travel to Afghanistan in the late 1990s in a mosque in Grimhøjvej, founded by an Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
n refugee named Athme Meheri.
Danish journalist Morten Skjoldager described Meheri's mosque as a "radical mosque" in his book "Truslen indefra" ("the threat from within").
Abderrahmane was captured, in December 2001, in Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border.
He was transferred to Guantanamo on February 10, 2002.
He was repatriated to Denmark on February 24, 2004.
Abderrahmane's explanation for how he came to be captured was that he had traveled there to enroll in an Afghan military training camp to undergoing training so he could go fight with Muslim rebels in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
.
Abderrahmane was held in Guantanamo Bay for over two years.
According to an article in US News & World Report he was released in spite of reservations from US security officials because the Danes had threatened to withdraw their troops if he was not released.
Abderrahmane was the subject of a 2004 book entitled "Den naive terrorist".
After his release Abderrahmane announced plans to travel to fight in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
.
He said he regarded the document he signed promising not to take part in terrorist activity as "toilet paper". Danish security officials talked him out of his trip.
He has said that Denmark's role in the Occupation of Iraq meant that he thought Danish leaders were legitimate military targets.
On 10 October 2007 in the Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
suburb of Greve, Abderrahmane was sentenced to 10 months in jail for the theft of two passports and three creditcards which he used to withdraw more than 110,000 Danish kroner (approximately US$ 20,000).
The items were stolen from the mail sorting office where Abderrahmane was working under a new Danish name.
Police only recovered a small proportion of the stolen money and it is unknown where or how the remainder of the money was spent. During the trial, Abderrahmane refused to testify. He also refused to speak to or co-operate with his assigned lawyer.