STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 20 (UPI) -- Sweden will deport a former prisoner from the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba to Albania, Swedish Migration Board officials said.
Board officials decided that Adil Hakimjan, who was born in China. should go to Albania, where he was sent after being released from the U.S. detention center, the Swedish news agency TT reported Thursday.
Hakimjan said he was disappointed by the board's decision, since he had hoped to stay in Sweden where he was safe from alleged persecution in China. His lawyer, Sten de Geer, told the news agency that Albania was chosen as the deportation site because his client has an Albanian residence permit and would also be safe there from deportation to China.
"I thought that I would be able to stay (in Sweden)," Hakimjan said. "I have clarified my reasons but got rejected."
Hakimjan was a member of the Uighur culture, which the Chinese government had allegedly been persecuting.
Chinese residents such as Hakimjan attempting to flee such alleged persecution by traveling to Pakistan were seen by U.S. officials as potential Taliban sympathizers due to the group's history in the country. Hakimjan was apprehended making the journey, but later released after his innocence was proven.
