The deportee was reportedly receiving over €1,000 per month in state welfare benefits.
German authorities announced on Monday that a suspected ex-bodyguard for Osama bin Laden has been barred from re-entering the country, despite an earlier court ruling finding his deportation to Tunisia to be illegal.
Due to stringent German privacy laws he is being referred to as Sami A., his state-issued pseudonym.
Commenting on Sami’s deportation to Tunisia on terror charges, a spokesman for the city of Bochum insisted that preventing him from re-entering the country is in the interest of German national security, adding that the ban is standard procedure under EU immigration law.
The 42-year-old is widely believed to have served with the al-Qaeda* franchise and has lived in the city of Bochum for some 20 years, receiving in excess of €1,000 in monthly social security payments, according to reports.
The Tunisian national was forcefully evicted from Germany last month in a controversial deportation requested by the Federal Office for Migration.
A subsequent court ruling found his deportation to be illegal, as the suspected terrorist was likely to be tortured while detained by Tunisian authorities. The court ordered authorities to facilitate Sami’s return to Germany and threatened to hand the local immigration authority a €10,000 fine.
However, shortly after his return to Tunisia, Sami A. was released, as investors couldn’t piece together sufficient evidence to charge or prosecute him.
His current whereabouts in Tunisia is unknown, but he is reportedly keen on returning to Germany.