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'Sleep-deprived' Abu Hamza fights extradition on health grounds
Abu Hamza should be spared extradition to the US on terrorism charges because his health has deteriorated so much in jail, the High Court has heard. Lawyers for the Islamist cleric say he is suffering sleep deprivation and the effects of being confined in an "unrelentingly harsh environment" in HMP Belmarsh. In a last-ditch appeal after European judges said he could be extradited, Hamza's legal team say the move should be put on hold until he can undergo an MRI scan. If the medical tests go ahead and doctors then agree Hamza is unfit to plead, his lawyers say it would be "oppressive" and a breach of his human rights to send him for trial abroad. The application for an injunction was made on Tuesday just days after the most senior judge in the country, The Lord Chief Justice, expressed "fury" at cases such as Hamza's that have dragged on for eight years. It prompted claims by lawyers for the Home Secretary that Hamza, and four other suspects, were abusing the process of the courts by trying to store up appeal points in order to delay proceedings.
Posted by: lotp 2012-10-03 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=353114 |