Ali al-Bahlul

Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul
Official Guantanamo picture
Born (1969-09-11) September 11, 1969 (age 55)[1][2]
Al Hudaydah, Yemen
Detained at Guantanamo (since 2002)
Other name(s) Ali Hamza Ahmed Sulayman Ismail
Ali Hamza Ahmed Suleiman al Bahlul
Anas al-Mekki
Abu Annas al-Yemeni
ISN39
Charge(s)
  • convicted in November 2008 of conspiring with Al-Qaeda, soliciting murder and providing material support for terrorism
  • conviction overturned on January 25, 2013
  • conviction re-affirmed on October 20, 2016
Statusdetained at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp

Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul (born September 11, 1969) is a Yemeni citizen who has been held as an enemy combatant since 2002 in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He boycotted the Guantanamo Military Commissions, arguing that there was no legal basis for the military tribunals to judge him.

He was convicted in November 2008 of performing media relations for Osama bin Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda, and sentenced to life imprisonment, after a jury of nine military officers deliberated for less than an hour.[3]

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned most of his convictions on January 25, 2013.[4] In October 2016, a divided D.C. Circuit affirmed Bahlul's final remaining conviction, which was for criminal conspiracy. In October 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Bahlul's petition for a writ of certiorari.[5]

  1. ^ "Detainee Profile" (PDF). Department of Defense. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Panel upholds al Qaida filmmaker's life sentence | Miami Herald". www.miamiherald.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Guantanamo Jury jails bin Laden media chief for life", The Guardian, 4 November 2008
  4. ^ Jane Sutton (2013-01-25). "Court overturns another Guantanamo conviction". Miami, Florida: Reuters. Archived from the original on 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2013-01-26. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit threw out the conviction of Yemeni prisoner Ali Hamza al Bahlul, ruling that the charges of which he was convicted - conspiracy, providing material support for terrorism and soliciting murder - were not internationally recognized as war crimes when the acts were committed.
  5. ^ Barnes, Robert (2017-10-10). "Supreme Court turns down Guantanamo detainee's appeal". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-10-13.