Thank you for covering this demonstration and showing your support yesterday Terry. Just to clarify, Mr. Aamer is actually a British resident and a Saudi national (legal status). His family, wife and four children, the youngest of whom has never met his father, are all British citizens.

Mr. Aamer is also one of two British residents who remain in Guantanamo Bay. The other is a 39 year old Algerian called Ahmed Belbacha who the government has never asked to be returned to this country. The US is currently trying to send him back to Algeria, having rejected an urgent appeal made to the courts by Reprieve recently; he was also sentenced in absentia (through a questionable "trial") to 20 years' imprisonment last November in Algeria. There is a likelihood he would be tortured and/or killed if returned to Algeria. Like Mr. Aamer, he has never faced charges of any kind in Guantanamo Bay and the US considers him to be innocent.

Mr. Aamer's return was initially sought by the British government back in August 2007. Four other men, whose release was sought at the same time, have since returned to the UK, the last one being Binyam Mohamed in February 2009. Unlike these other four men, however, Mr. Aamer did not have refugee status and his whole family are British. Having sought his release almost 3 years ago, the government clearly believes he is innocent. The Foreign Office has refused to meet campaigners for Mr. Aamer's release to discuss why the process is taking so long when apparently the US does not want him and the UK does... and there we have it, 8 years+ without charge or trial.

What the "commentator" who accuses Mr. Aamer's compatriots of carrying out the 9/11 attacks fails to appreciate is that the correct forum to ascertain all such "facts" is a court of law through what is known as "due process". The arbitrary detention and "interrogation techniques" (a.k.a. torture) prisoners at Guantanamo have been subject to are a flagrant circumvention of due process rights. Everyone has the right to a fair trial and is innocent UNTIL proven guilty. There are no exceptions. Terrorism is criminal activity and must be tried as such.

Furthermore, it has now been more than 3000 days that Guantanamo Bay has been opened, a potent symbol of the diminishing respect for human rights and human life we have all witnessed since it opened. How did WE come to this?

Speakers addressing the demonstration included Jean Lambert MEP, Martin Linton (MP and Labour candidate for Battersea - MP for Shaker Aamer), Yvonne Ridley, Andy Worthington and Victoria Brittain (journalists).

The campaign for justice for men like Shaker Aamer, who have not been charged or tried of any wrongdoing but are instead the victims of it, will continue until Guantanamo and all other illegal prisons like it are closed.