Abu "Hook" Hamza, the Egyptian cleric currently serving a 7 year jail sentence in Britain for soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred, may be extradited to the United States where he has been wanted for a long time. The jail he may spend his time in in the US is much tougher than the one he's in in Britain and he could serve 100 years in the US.
Judge sends radical cleric Abu Hamza to America to face terror trial
15th November 2007
Daily Mail
Extremist preacher Abu Hamza today lost a key battle in his bid to avoid extradition to stand trial on terror charges in the United States.
During today's hearing, a senior judge threw out his demands that he should remain in Britain where he is serving a seven-year jail term.
If convicted in a US court, 48-year-old Hamza could face a 100-year sentence.
The hook-handed cleric is accused of providing support to al Qaeda and plotting to take hostages — including a Briton — in the Yemen.
Wanted: Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will now make the final decision on whether Abu Hamza can be extradited to the US
The Bush administration claims he was involved in a global conspiracy to wage jihad against the US and other western countries.
He is accused of helping to set up a terrorist training camp in America and helping to fund the trip of a would-be jihadist to a terrorist training camp in the Middle East.
His lawyers fear that if extradited he could face the death penalty or be incarcerated in the notorious Guantanemo Bay detention centre.
In February last year the controversial Islamic cleric was convicted at the Old Bailey of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
He is being held in Belarsh maximum security prison.
Alun Jones QC, defending, immediately announced that he would be applying to the Home Office and Attorney General Baroness Scotland for the terror trial to take place in the UK.
He told the court: "We shall be making submissions to the Home Office.
"We shall also simultaneously be writing to the Attorney General to prosecute the most serious offences here in the UK on the basis that three UK citizens were killed and no US citizens were killed."
He said they would also be asking British officials to consider Mr Workman's criticism of the possible prison conditions that Hamza could face while in jail in the US and also that he would see little of his family if extradited.
Senior District Judge Timothy Workman, sitting at London's City of Westminster Magistrates Court, sent the case to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for a final decision on whether Hamza is extradited.
And he ruled that Hamza should remain in custody pending the Home Secretary's decision.
"The defendant is currently serving a sentence of imprisonment in the United Kingdom, but subject to any representations from counsel I propose to send the matter to the Secretary of State for her decision on whether the defendant should be extradited to America," he said.
'Alcatraz of the Rockies': AXD Florence holds dangerous prisoners
Hamza had been arrested on an extradition warrant issued by the US government in May 2004 but the process was put on hold pending his Old Bailey trial and unsuccessful appeals.
If he is finally extradited he is likely to be held in a Supermax prison in the US, whose conditions Mr Workman described as "offensive to my sense of propriety in dealing with prisoners".
But he added that being jailed there in the short term would not be so inhumane and degrading to breach Hamza's human rights.
The court heard that inmates in Supermax are locked down for 23 hours a day in small cells between 48 and 80 square feet with no natural light.
The prison is known as the "The Alcatraz of the Rockies" because it is so secure.
The supermax jail in Florence, Colorado, houses prisoners who are deemed the most dangerous and in need of the tightest control.
Around one in five inmates have killed fellow prisoners in other correctional facilities; while one in three have attempted to attack other prisoners or officers.
ADX Florence was set up in 1984 and now houses around 430 male prisoners.
Among its most notorious inmates are Zacarias Moussaoui, a conspirator in the September 11 attacks; "Shoebomber" Richard Reid; Wadih el-Hage, involved in the 1998 US embassy bombings and Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski.
dailymail.co.uk
Judge sends radical cleric Abu Hamza to America to face terror trial
15th November 2007
Daily Mail
Extremist preacher Abu Hamza today lost a key battle in his bid to avoid extradition to stand trial on terror charges in the United States.
During today's hearing, a senior judge threw out his demands that he should remain in Britain where he is serving a seven-year jail term.
If convicted in a US court, 48-year-old Hamza could face a 100-year sentence.
The hook-handed cleric is accused of providing support to al Qaeda and plotting to take hostages — including a Briton — in the Yemen.
Wanted: Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will now make the final decision on whether Abu Hamza can be extradited to the US
The Bush administration claims he was involved in a global conspiracy to wage jihad against the US and other western countries.
He is accused of helping to set up a terrorist training camp in America and helping to fund the trip of a would-be jihadist to a terrorist training camp in the Middle East.
His lawyers fear that if extradited he could face the death penalty or be incarcerated in the notorious Guantanemo Bay detention centre.
In February last year the controversial Islamic cleric was convicted at the Old Bailey of soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
He is being held in Belarsh maximum security prison.
Alun Jones QC, defending, immediately announced that he would be applying to the Home Office and Attorney General Baroness Scotland for the terror trial to take place in the UK.
He told the court: "We shall be making submissions to the Home Office.
"We shall also simultaneously be writing to the Attorney General to prosecute the most serious offences here in the UK on the basis that three UK citizens were killed and no US citizens were killed."
He said they would also be asking British officials to consider Mr Workman's criticism of the possible prison conditions that Hamza could face while in jail in the US and also that he would see little of his family if extradited.
Senior District Judge Timothy Workman, sitting at London's City of Westminster Magistrates Court, sent the case to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for a final decision on whether Hamza is extradited.
And he ruled that Hamza should remain in custody pending the Home Secretary's decision.
"The defendant is currently serving a sentence of imprisonment in the United Kingdom, but subject to any representations from counsel I propose to send the matter to the Secretary of State for her decision on whether the defendant should be extradited to America," he said.
'Alcatraz of the Rockies': AXD Florence holds dangerous prisoners
Hamza had been arrested on an extradition warrant issued by the US government in May 2004 but the process was put on hold pending his Old Bailey trial and unsuccessful appeals.
If he is finally extradited he is likely to be held in a Supermax prison in the US, whose conditions Mr Workman described as "offensive to my sense of propriety in dealing with prisoners".
But he added that being jailed there in the short term would not be so inhumane and degrading to breach Hamza's human rights.
The court heard that inmates in Supermax are locked down for 23 hours a day in small cells between 48 and 80 square feet with no natural light.
The prison is known as the "The Alcatraz of the Rockies" because it is so secure.
The supermax jail in Florence, Colorado, houses prisoners who are deemed the most dangerous and in need of the tightest control.
Around one in five inmates have killed fellow prisoners in other correctional facilities; while one in three have attempted to attack other prisoners or officers.
ADX Florence was set up in 1984 and now houses around 430 male prisoners.
Among its most notorious inmates are Zacarias Moussaoui, a conspirator in the September 11 attacks; "Shoebomber" Richard Reid; Wadih el-Hage, involved in the 1998 US embassy bombings and Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski.
dailymail.co.uk