Kevin Gosztola recently appeared on The Matthew Filipowicz show to discuss the plight of former Guantanamo prisoner Younis Abdurrahman Chekkouri.

“The Matthew Filipowicz Show” is a progressive political talk show featuring progressive news, talk, interviews, and comedy hosted by comedian, cartoonist, and satirist Matthew Filipowicz.

Kevin described Chekkouri’s suffering on The Dissenter:

Chekkouri, a Moroccan, was detained for 13 years, cleared for release in 2009 by President Barack Obama’s own review task force, and never faced any charges or trial.

When he was released, Chekkouri was “blindfolded, forced to wear ear-defenders, and had his arms shackled to his legs during the ten hour flight to Morocco,” according to Cori Crider, his attorney from Reprieve. The flight to Morocco “replicated the total sight and sound deprivation he experienced when he was first rendered to Guantanamo.”

Chekkouri is now detained at Salé, where torture methods like “rape using bottles, beatings, suspension by the knees in the “roast chicken” position, electric shocks, pulling out fingernails, and throwing cold water and urine on detainees, have allegedly been used. He faces the prospect of a trial, where allegations which already collapsed against him will likely be used.

In the same interview with Filipowicz, Kevin also talked about Tariq Ba Odeh, a gravely ill prisoner Guantanamo prisoner:

As Kevin covered on The Dissenter, the U.S. government is actively fighting in court for their right to keep force-feeding and imprisoning Tariq Ba Odah:

Naureen Shah, who is with Amnesty International USA, condemned the Obama administration’s opposition to Odah’s habeas corpus petition.

“The Pentagon reportedly fears that if Ba Odah is released, other detainees will go on hunger strike. That’s an outrageous reason for depriving anyone of their liberty and it has no basis in international law. The administration must charge Ba Odah or release him,” Shah declared.

Shah additionally stated, “President Obama has long said that his hands are tied by Congress on Guantanamo. But Ba Odah’s release was in his power to ensure. President Obama has effectively decided to continue detaining a desperately ill man that the government has never publicly indicated any intention of charging with a crime.”

In addition to serious coverage of news, here is an example of the kind of excellent satire “The Matthew Filipowicz Show” has to offer: