2 October 2012
Last updated at 11:42 GMT
Lawyers for Abu Hamza argue that his health has deteriorated
Terror
suspect Abu Hamza al-Masri's health has deteriorated, perhaps because
of his continued detention, his lawyer has told the High Court.
Abu Hamza has asked the court to grant an injunction against his extradition to the US until a scan is carried out.
Fellow suspect Khaled al-Fawwaz, held since 1998 over alleged
Osama Bin Laden links, says new evidence exists which casts doubt on
the case against him.
But the US says he wrote a 1996 fatwa against Americans for Bin Laden.
The men are among six terror suspects held in the UK who are wanted in the US.
Abu Hamza, a former preacher at Finsbury Park Mosque in
London, is accused of planning a terror training camp in the US and
assisting hostage-taking in Yemen.
But to avoid extradition, he, Babar Ahmad, Syed Talha Ahsan,
Adel Abdul Bary and al-Fawwaz must show there are "new and compelling"
reasons not to send them. The Home Office has said it wants to deport
them "as quickly as possible".
Documents before the court said it would be "oppressive" to send Abu Hamza to the US for trial.
His lawyer said the "uncontradicted medical opinion" was that a scan was "medically necessary".
Alun Jones QC asked the court for a temporary injunction blocking Abu Hamza's removal until the MRI scan has been competed.
He said a judge referred to Abu Hamza's "very poor health" at an extradition hearing in 2008.
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The suspects
- Abu Hamza al-Masri
- Babar Ahmad (pictured)
- Syed Ahsan
- Adel Abdul Bary
- Khaled al-Fawwaz
"Over four years later, it
appears there has been, or may have been, a further deterioration,
perhaps attributable to sleep deprivation and the continued confinement
of the appellant in an unrelentingly harsh environment."
Abu Hamza was arrested at the request of the US in May 2004 -
but the extradition was halted when the UK decided to try him on
allegations relating to his sermons. He was convicted in 2006.
In 2008, his appeal against extradition went to the European
Court. In April 2012 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that his
extradition was lawful, and his appeal against that ruling was rejected
in September.
'Not guilty'
Al-Fawwaz and Adel Abdul Bary are accused of being aides to Osama Bin Laden in London.
As al-Fawwaz was arrested in 1998, so the case had been running for 14 years, his lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said.
He told the High Court that extradition would expose him to a "real risk of indefinite confinement."
He also said there was "a substantial new body of evidence
which casts doubt on the prima facie case" against al-Fawwaz. A
diplomatic cable considering a "de-listing of Mr Fawwaz" from a UN
"terror list" existed, he added.
Mr Fitzgerald said Home Secretary Theresa May had rejected a
request to reconsider the case in light of the new evidence, describing
her decision as "unreasonable and inadequate".
Continue reading the main story
The court is absolutely packed with lawyers, reporters and interested parties. The only people absent are the men themselves.
So why is this hearing taking place when the highest European
judges have already ruled these men can be extradited? There are two
key issues. Firstly, lawyers for Abu Hamza and Khaled al-Fawwaz say
there are new facts that need to be considered - facts which haven't
been dealt with before.
Abu Hamza's case comes down to his reportedly deteriorating
health and whether he is fit to plead. A similar argument led to General
Augusto Pinochet avoiding extradition a decade ago.
Secondly, Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan say they should be
prosecuted here - because that's where their alleged crimes were
committed.
He also said there was "evidence
in the possession of M15 and MI6 that suggests that the claimant could
not be guilty as alleged".
Between 1999 and 2006, he and Abdul Bary were indicted on
various terrorism charges in the US, with al-Fawwaz accused of
involvement in, or support for, the bombing of US embassies in Nairobi,
Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1998.
Mr Fitzgerald said al-Fawwaz publicly disassociated himself
from Bin Laden after the al-Qaeda leader issued a fatwa against
Americans in 1996.
However, the lawyer for the US authorities, James Lewis QC,
told the court there was evidence that al-Fawwaz had drafted the fatwa,
and that faxes were found on him claiming responsibility for the
embassy bombings "two-and-a-half hours before the bombs went off."
South London computer expert Babar Ahmad has been held in a
UK prison without trial for eight years after being accused of raising
funds for terrorism with his co-accused, Syed Ahsan.
Haroon Aswat, Abu Hamza's co-accused, was allegedly involved
in the plot to establish a training camp in Oregon. He was arrested in
August 2005.
The European Court of Human Rights has "adjourned its
examination" of Mr Aswat's claim because it requires further details
about his mental health problems.
COPY : www.bbc.co.uk
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