US must give advance notice before transferring US detainee

The ACLU also asked the judge to continue to ban his transfer to another country (Pixabay photo)

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has directed the U.S. government to give 72 hours advance notice before transferring an American citizen accused of fighting with the Islamic State to another country.

The unidentified detainee surrendered on the Syrian battlefield in mid-September.

The military is detaining him in Iraq as an enemy combatant.

The American Civil Liberties Union argued that the government was holding the detainee without providing him access to a lawyer. The court ordered the government to provide access to an attorney.

The ACLU also asked the judge to continue to ban his transfer to another country — perhaps Saudi Arabia, where he holds dual citizenship.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled Tuesday that the government has to give advance notice of any transfer so it can be contested in court.