Kenyan Held at Guantanamo for 17 Years Without Charge, Lawyer Tells Nairobi High Court

In a Nairobi courtroom, a lawyer testifying from abroad told the High Court that a Kenyan man was held for 17 years at Guantanamo Bay and never once charged with a crime. American attorney Frank Panopoulos gave his evidence under oath, by remote link, before Justice David Mburu at the Milimani High Court. He said his former client, Mohammed Abdulmalik, was detained from 2007 until his release in 2024.

Panopoulos adopted an affidavit dated July 23, 2026. "He was never charged with anything," he told the court. "He was held indefinitely without charge, what is known as a forever prisoner in the common parlance." He said he represented Abdulmalik at the Guantanamo Naval Base prison from 2018 until 2024.

The proceedings trace back to a 2008 petition filed by Abdulmalik's siblings, Mariam Mohammed and Salim Khamis. According to the family's case, Kenyan authorities arrested him in February 2007 over suspected involvement in the 2002 Paradise Hotel bombing in Mombasa. He was then, they say, secretly handed to United States military forces with no domestic extradition proceedings. The family argues this violated his constitutional right to be arraigned in court or properly charged within the statutory timeframe. They named the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General as respondents and asked for his immediate release and repatriation to Kenya.

Panopoulos described the prison as "very strict and even harsh." Detainees were shackled during transport and during visits, he said, with inadequate medical care and temperatures above 100°F. Even in meetings with him, he said, his client was restrained: "He was shackled to the floor with metal shackles when he was transported." He cited a UN Special Rapporteur's report of June 14, 2023, entered as exhibit FP6, which he said described conditions as "near to being torture."

He told the court he prepared Abdulmalik for a 2021 Periodic Review Board hearing. The board recommended release, following reviews by US defence officials and congressional committees and negotiations between the US and Kenya. Panopoulos said he was excluded from those negotiations and never saw the final agreement. He also read from a reply brief dated September 22, 2023, in which Abdulmalik asked a US court to relax six specific conditions of his imprisonment pending release and transfer, citing continuing violations of international humanitarian law. He said he wrote to the commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo seeking eased conditions and a meeting, but the commander did not respond and denied the request for a meeting.

The aftermath, he said, has continued. "In the two years since his release, he hasn't been able to get work. The stigma of Guantanamo follows him even though he was never charged."

On cross-examination, state counsel Marwa asked Panopoulos whether he knew why Abdulmalik was never charged, and pressed him on how his client came into US custody. Panopoulos answered that the absence of charges reflected an absence of evidence. He said details of the transit were covered by US court protective orders, and he declined to disclose classified transfer details. When Marwa suggested US officers had captured Abdulmalik in Kenya, Panopoulos replied, "He was not captured," and said the evidence showed he was handed over by Kenyan authority. Justice Mburu intervened, telling Marwa to restrict his questions to the evidence the witness had given.

The judge then set directions. Final written submissions are to be filed and exchanged: the petitioner within 14 days, the respondent within 14 days of being served. A mention on November 25 will confirm compliance.