Hentif Opinion Released

More than a month ago, U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy denied the habeas petition of a Guantanamo detainee named Fadhel Hussein Saleh Hentif (ISN 259). The opinion was classified at the time, but has now been release in redacted form. I have not had a chance to read it yet, but will offer thoughts when I do. Judge Kennedy's introductory paragraph gives little sense of the issues on which the case turned:

Fadhel Hussein Saleh Hentif(ISN 259), a Yemeni citizen, was seized by Pakistani authorities in late 2001 and has been held by the United States at the naval base detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since early 2002. Hentif has filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus contending that he is unlawfully detained. Respondents in this case, President Barack H. Obama and other high-level officials in the United States Government, argue that Hentif is lawfully held and therefore should remain in U.S. custody. The parties filed cross-motions for judgment on the record and appeared before the Court for a four-day hearing on the merits of Hentif's petition. Upon consideration of the motions and the evidence presented at the merits hearing, the Court concludes that respondents have demonstrated that Hentifs detention is lawful. Therefore, Hentif's petition shall be denied.