Islamist Abu Hamza's Extradition to U.S. Is Delayed by the European Court
Abu Hamza al-Masri, an Islamic cleric jailed for inciting murder and racial hatred, had his extradition to the U.S. delayed by the European Court of Human Rights.
The court said Hamza and three other men shouldn’t be extradited from the U.K. until it reaches a decision on his claim that the maximum security prison in the U.S. where he is likely to be jailed would violate a European human rights rule that prohibits torture and degrading treatment. The court said it needs more time to rule on that issue.
“The European Court of Human Rights has decided that all the applications are partly admissible,” U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May said. “We await the court’s judgment on the case. In the meantime these individuals will remain in custody.”
The U.S. is seeking to prosecute Hamza on charges he supported the Taliban with money and troops, set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon and aided in a 1998 Yemeni kidnapping that left four dead.
The U.K. signed his extradition order after the U.S. gave diplomatic assurances the cleric’s human rights would be respected. Hamza had appealed both the lower court decision to allow his extradition and the U.K. government’s signing of the extradition papers.
To contact the reporter for this story: Lindsay Fortado in London at lfortado@bloomberg.net.
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