RABAT, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- the Court of Appeal of the Moroccan capital Rabat has acquitted Younes Chekkouri, a former Moroccan Guantanamo detainee, official MAP news agency reported on Friday.

Chekkouri was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and held in Guantanamo without charge for 14 years. In September 2015, the United States transferred him to Morocco as part of a renewed push by Barack Obama to release Guantanamo prisoners deemed to pose no threat.

The now 48-year-old Chekkouri was incarcerated after being handed over to the Moroccan authorities.

Following his preliminary hearing, the investigating judge in charge of terrorism cases ordered his prosecution on bail, in response to a motion from his defense, the report said.

Last May, Chekkouri was sentenced by a lower court to five years in prison for "setting up a criminal gang and undermining the internal security of the state," the same source noted.