Crime

UK: Anti-gay cleric Abu Hamza can be extradited to the US, says High Court

Oct 05 2012
Written by Scott Roberts

The High Court has ruled radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza can now be extradited immediately to the US to face terror charges.

Judges Sir John Thomas and Mr Justice Ousley said in their ruling that there was an “overwhelming public interest in the functioning of the extradition system”.

Along with supporting violence against LGBT people, Jews, and women, Hamza has also advocated the murder of non-Muslims.

Earlier in the week, lawyers for Hamza asked the High Court to suspend the extradition order because the cleric was said to be in “poor health”.

Abu Hamza’s lawyers said eight years in prison had led him to develop chronic sleep deprivation and mental depression.

He is also said to be suffering from memory loss.

However, Sir Thomas dismissed the claims, saying: “There are excellent medical facilities in the United States”.

On Wednesday, a senior UN adviser warned that pushing ahead with plans to deport the 54-year-old would breach the UN Convention Against Torture.

Hamza stands accused of planning a terror training camp in Oregon and abetting the kidnapping of 16 hostages in Yemen.

Applications to prevent extradition orders against four other terror suspects – Babar Ahmad, Syed Talha Ahsan, Khaled al Fawwaz and Adel Abdul Bary – have also been dismissed.

A Home Office spokesman welcomed the decision and said it was “working to extradite these men as quickly as possible”.

The BBC reports two US civilian jets – one of which is registered to the US Department of Justice – are on the tarmac at an air base in eastern England.