Muslim Abu Hamza to be extradited to America

Abu Hamza and four other men have lost their appeals with the European Court of Human Rights...

15:45 25 September 2012

On Monday the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) refused Abu Hamza and four other men their appeal to avoid being sent to the USA justice system, following years of their cases remaining on British soil over suspected terrorist activities.

 

Babar Ahmad, Talha Ahsan, Khalid al-Fawwaz and Adel Abdul Bary along with Hamza, are expected to be flown out to America in the coming weeks. Reportedly the UK and US authorities support the outcome.

A Home Office spokesman has said: “We will work to ensure that the individuals are handed over to the US authorities as quickly as possible.”

 

A panel of judges from the European court denied all five cases from being sent to a higher court at European Court's Grand Chamber – the last option they could face in their fight against their extradition.

 

The men sought help from Strasbourg arguing that, as reported by The Independent, their human rights would be affected if they were sent to America’s ‘Supermax’ prison but their appeals were unsuccessful.

 

Hamza is known for his sermons at London’s Finsbury Park mosque and was sent to UK prison in 2006 for seven years for a sentence that included inciting racial hate. As explained by the BBC, since the tragedy of 9/11 the UK and US have cracked down on extradition with regards to terrorism to push the justice system forward for those individuals concerned.

 

The cases of Ahmed, who was arrested in the UK in 2004, and Ahsan, 2006, has caused much controversy as the two men have been held by British authorities without being charged. The two are accused of running websites that are linked to the Taliban.

 

According to reports, there has been a campaign to keep them in the UK, and there are supposed concerns over the treatment of their cases.

A statement from Ahmed's family has been released which asked the UK to consider prosecution over America. It read: “There is enormous public interest in Babar being prosecuted in the UK, as reflected by the fact that almost 150,000 members of the British public signed a Government e-petition to this effect last year.”

 

Fawwaz and Bary are accused of assisting Osama Bin Laden and the al-Qaeda from London, both of whom are understood to have been in British custody since the late 1990s.