Shaka Aamer

Very little happens in the sleepy little town* in which I live. So it was interesting to hear that Shaka Aamer was being repatriated to the UK via Biggin Hill Airport after a fourteen year long imprisonment in Guantanamo Bay**. I'll admit I don't know a great deal about the case, other than the fact Aamer has been jailed without charge or trial. I'm not the person to offer a withering crique of US policy in this regard. But for a nation who strive to take other countries to task over their human rights abuses, Guantanamo remains a sizable elephant in the room.

Having watched a news report, I believe I saw Aamer's lawyer from the bus window of the 246,along with numerous policeman and cameras. It provided an interesting contrast with the rest of my afternoon, where I distributed vast numbers of betting slips in a parochial environment. Can one of you please remind me to get out of this town at some point?

*When I was a kid, I maintained that Biggin Hill was a village whilst virtually everyone else called it a town. I concede that it's slighly too big to be a village. But a town has basic amenities that Biggin Hill does not. Like a railway station. And a WH Smiths. The day Costa came to town, everyone practically lost their shit. The arrival of Domino's some time later prompted similar rejoicing.

** I once had to explain to my old Drama teacher (who was someone I liked very much and very good at their job) what Guantanamo Bay was. I recall being surprised that she didn't know. But I suppose at least we were spared some sort of interminable play on the subject.

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