Six Algerians held as terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay for the last seven years have finally gotten their day in court, the Associated Press reported.
The men were the first Guantanamo detainees swept up in the months and days after the Sept;. 11,2001 attacks to challenge their imprisonment in court. They are being held as enemy combatants and have not been charged with a specific crime.
The Justice Department told a federal judge on Thursday that the men were arrested in Bosnia in October 2001 before they could travel to Afghanistan and join al-Qaida forces.
Lawyers for the men said there is no evidence they would ever have ended up on a battlefield or fought Americans and U.S. allies.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon expects to rule on the case later this month.