Samantha Bee interrogates ex-Guantanamo detainee freed years after he was found innocent

(Image credit: Full Frontal)

"Meet Murat Kurnaz, who was born in Germany and who traveled to Pakistan to learn about Islam a month after 9/11, on a poorly timed Fast Pray Pray trip," Samantha Bee said on Monday's Full Frontal. Bee flew to Germany, "the comedy capital of the world," to interview Kurnaz, who was scooped up by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques," and then dumped in Guantanamo Bay prison camp, which Bee called "a prized source of national embarrassment" for the U.S. "I figured an interrogation room would make this ex-Guantanamo detainee feel most conformable," she said, and so they spoke in a black, dimly lighted room.

It didn't take long for U.S. officials to determine that they had nabbed the wrong guy, Bee said. "I mean, this guy is so innocent, Germany made a TV movie about his innocence." Kurnaz's tales of being tortured and, oddly, offered blue Pepsi as a carrot to talk, are troubling, but he also shared that he had welcomed the involvement of Americans because he thought they did things by the rules and would free him as soon as they figured out he was innocent. Why would he think that? Hollywood. Watch below, and yes, Donald Trump does earn a mention in the end. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.