Post by Focus on Mar 27, 2013 7:40:32 GMT
Home secretary wants court of appeal to overturn decision that torture evidence prevents radical preacher being sent to Jordan.
The court of appeal is due to hand down a ruling on whether the radical preacher Abu Qatada can be forced to leave the UK.
Theresa May, the home secretary, asked the court to overturn an immigration ruling that has allowed Qatada to stay in Britain rather than being deported to Jordan. May's legal team submitted at a recent one-day hearing in London that he was a "truly dangerous" individual who escaped expulsion only through "errors of law".
Abu Qatada
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) decided in November that Qatada could not be removed to Jordan, where he was convicted of terror charges in his absence in 1999. Siac judges said there was a "real risk" that evidence from Qatada's former co-defendants Abu Hawsher and Al-Hamasher, who were allegedly tortured, could be used against him at a retrial, breaching his human rights.
Edward Fitzgerald QC, appearing for Qatada, now in his early 50s, defended the ruling, saying there was "concrete and compelling evidence" that Qatada's co-defendants were tortured.
Fitzgerald argued there was "a real risk of a flagrant denial of justice" if Qatada was sent back to Jordan.
But James Eadie QC, appearing for May, said the Siac decision should be quashed. He argued the Siac judges, chaired by Mr Justice Mitting, had taken an "erroneous" view of the position in Jordan and the legal tests that had to be applied.
Home Secretary, Theresa May
aEdie said the Jordanian constitution "prohibits clearly and expressly the use of torture and the reliance on any statement obtained under duress, including torture".
He said there was no reason to believe that Jordanian judges would not take that into account. It was a matter for Jordan and Siac erred in blocking deportation, Eadie argued.
On Wednesday Lord Dyson, the master of the rolls, sitting with Lord Justice Richards and Lord Justice Elias will decide whether or not to allow May's challenge.
Qatada, who was living on bail at a London address, is back in custody after he was arrested for alleged breaches. A hearing over whether he should be granted bail was due to be held last Thursday but was delayed. Police searched the hate preacher's house before he was held.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne, of the Metropolitan police, revealed last week that the hate preacher was being investigated over extremist material.
Will they or won't they? -- have the balls to finally send this murdering b**tard back to where he came? - Fx
