Abu Qatada extradition fight moves to immigration commission ...

The government is eager to deport Abu Qatada to Jordan, where he has been convicted of involvement in two terrorist conspiracies. Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

The Palestinian-born cleric Abu Qatada will resist a fresh attempt to deport him at a hearing of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in central London on Wednesday.

The terror suspect, whose real name is Omar Othman, was first arrested in the UK in 2002. Since then he has either been in prison or under severely restrictive bail conditions which, at one stage, included a 22-hour curfew.

The government is eager to extradite Qatada to Jordan, where he was convicted in his absence of being involved in two terrorist conspiracies in 1999 and 2000 to carry out bomb attacks.

But in a judgment earlier this year, the European court of human rights in Strasbourg ruled that evidence of his involvement was obtained by torturing one of his co-defendants and there was a high probability it would be used at a retrial, where it would be ?of considerable, perhaps decisive importance?.

Following several ministerial visits to the Jordanian capital, Amman, this summer, the Home Office believes it has now been provided with sufficiently robust reassurances that no evidence obtained through torture will be used against Qatada and that he will receive a fair trial.

The SIAC hearing is expected to last seven days before a three person judicial panel. Qatada, who was born in Bethlehem at a time when it was part of Jordan, is not due to be in court for the proceedings. Earlier this summer a judge ruled that granting him bail during the Olympics Games, pending a full hearing, would be ?exceptionally problematic?.

The Home Office says videotapes of Qatada sermons influenced Muhammad Atta, the ringleader of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ?Qatada is a dangerous man and we intend to remove him as quickly as possible. We are confident the assurances we have secured from the Jordanians will allow us to do this. This is now a matter for the courts.?

Source: Guardian

Source: http://justasklegal.com/abu-qatada-extradition-fight-moves-to-immigration-commission/7005/

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