- Scottish comic to help last remaining Briton inmate sue MI6 for defamation
- Boyle was awarded money in libel against The Mirror who called him 'racist'
- Shaker Aamer remains in camp after he was arrested in Afghanistan in 2001
By James Rush
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Defamation: Boyle is to use the money awarded in his libel action to help Mr Aamer sue the intelligence services
Controversial comedian Frankie Boyle has pledged to donate 50,000 he won in a libel victory to help a British resident languishing in Guantanamo Bay sue the intelligence services.
The television comedian, known for jokes about Rebecca Adlington, Katie Price's disabled son and the Queen, has pledged to help the legal action by Shaker Aamer, the last remaining British resident in Guantanamo.
The Glaswegian comic has joined forces with charity Reprieve, which has represented inmates at Guatanamo and is helping Mr Aamer sue the intelligence services over accusations they have defamed him.
Boylr said: 'I can't even call it a miscarriage of justice, because he' s never even had a trial. We just want to see him back home.'
The entertainer, known for his time as a panelist on Mock The Week, was awarded more than 54,000 damages in October after a High Court jury found he had been libelled by a newspaper which described him as 'racist'.
According to The Independent, Boyle is now to use the money to help Mr Aamer take his action forward.
Aamer is the only British resident left in the centre in Cuba after being arrested in Afghanistan in 2001.
He has been cleared for released under both the Bush and Obama administrations and yet remains imprisoned.
The UK government says it wants Aamer to return 'as a matter of urgency', but he is still to be handed over by the US authorities.
The director of Reprieve Clive Stafford Smith said: 'They [the security services] go around saying all these awful things about him, which aren't true.
'And say that this doesn't infringe his good character.
'It's just laughable. All we want is our day in court, where these allegations would never stand up.'
Detained: Mr Aamer has remained imprisoned by the US since 2001, despite twice being cleared for release
A Foreign Office spokesman said it could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
The spokesman said: 'Mr Aamer's case remains a high priority for the UK Government and we continue to make clear to the US that we want him released and returned to the UK as a matter of urgency.
'Ministers and senior officials continue to raise Mr Aamer's case with their US counterparts.
'However, any decision regarding Mr Aamer's release ultimately remains in the hands of the United States Government.'
Watched: Detainees in orange jumpsuits sit in a holding area under the watchful eyes of Military Police at Camp X-Ray at Naval Base Guantanamo Bay
Aamer came to the UK from Saudi Arabia in 1996.
In 2001, he took his family to Afghanistan to work with Islamic charities.
But the CIA alleges that he was a member of Al Qaeda who was known to Osama Bin Laden.
When the American-led forces invaded Afghanistan later that year, Mr Aamer was picked up by a local militia and handed over to US troops.
He was detained for three months at the US-run Bagram airbase and an American prison in Kandahar before being flown to Guantanamo.
Green MP Caroline Lucas, who supports the action, said: 'The defamation of Shaker Aamer is evidence of the immense power of the security services to say whatever they want behind the backs of an accused man, to devastating effect.'
Ooh another upcoming, unelected celeb politician in the wings.
- LeeW , Fylde Coast, United Kingdom, 15/12/2012 14:28
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