Radical cleric Abu Qatada cannot be deported from UK, judges rule

Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada cannot be deported to his home country of Jordan while a “real risk” remains that evidence obtained by torture will be used in any future trial there.

Judges at the European Court of Human rights made the landmark judgment after deciding that under Article Six of the European Convention on Human Rights, there is a “real risk of the admission of evidence obtained by torture at his retrial.”

Formerly known as ‘Osama Bin Laden’s right-hand man’, Qatada faces charges that he plotted bomb attacks on two hotels and provided finance and advice for another series of bomb attacks in 1999.

Qatada is being held at Long Lartin jail in Worcestershire and was first arrested for his alleged criems in 2002.

Shami Chakrabarti, Director of human rights organisation Liberty, said: “The court found that torture and evidence obtained that way is widespread in that country.

“So it is clear that if Abu Qatada is to be tried for terrorism, this should happen in a British court without further delay.”