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| Britain | |
| Radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza has extradition to US postponed | |
| 2008-08-05 | |
| The British Government has been told to postpone extradition of Abu Hamza until a ruling on whether sending him to a maximum security US jail would breach his human rights. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg gave the order as the 48-year-old's lawyers claimed he would be kept in inhuman conditions.
The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has already approved Hamza's extradition and last month Hamza was refused leave to appeal to the Law Lords, the highest court in England and Wales. A Home Office spokesperson said: "The decision is a matter for the European Court. We shall seek to have his case expedited so it is heard as soon as possible." Hamza is currently serving seven years in Britain for soliciting murder and stirring up racial hatred. The former imam at London's Finsbury Park Mosque is accused in the United States of trying to set up an al-Qaeda training camp in Oregon. He faces 11 charges in total, including sending cash and recruits to al-Qaeda and the Taliban and one relating to the kidnap of 16 tourists in the Yemen in 1998. Four hostages, including three Britons, died in a rescue attempt. | |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #3 In the past they've refused to extradite to another country if the prisoner faced possible execution or torture. Hooky's facing neither. I think he's heading for Florence eventually. If they decide he's not, then the ECHR better order all the prisons in Europe closed, as any kind of prison could be considered "inhuman". |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-08-05 11:54 |
| #2 Tu3031, In case you haven't been paying attention the ECHR is NOT on our side. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2008-08-05 11:35 |
| #1 Well, now at least we find out who's side the European Court of Human Rights is really on... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-08-05 10:00 |