Radical cleric Qatada wins deportation appeal

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said that the radical cleric Abu Qatada cannot be sent back to Jordan while there remains “a real risk that evidence obtained by torture will be used against him”, judges said today.

In the Strasbourg-based court’s first ever ruling that an expulsion would be in violation of Article 6, the right to a fair trial, the court ruled that this article would be breached if Qatada was returned to Jordan, “given the real risk of the admission of evidence obtained by torture at his retrial”.

The radical cleric, who is also known as Omar Othman, appeared in hate sermons found on videos in the flat of one of the 9/11 bombers.

Today’s judgement goes against a previous decision by the UK law lords, who ruled almost three years ago that Qatada, who is known as “Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe”, could be sent back to Jordan.

In 2008, the court of appeal ruled in Qatada’s favour, but in a landmark judgment in February 2009, five law lords unanimously backed the government’s policy of removing terror suspects from Britain on the basis of assurances from foreign governments.

Qatada appealed to the court in Strasbourg, and on Tuesday the ECHR granted Qatada an appeal to the law lords’ judgement.

In the absence of any assurance by Jordan that the torture evidence would not be used against Mr Othman, the court therefore concluded that his deportation to Jordan to be retried would give rise to a flagrant denial of justice in violation of Article 6. ECHR judgement

This means that the 51-year-old cleric, who is currently held at Belmarsh high-security prison, must stay in Britain.

In its judgment, the court said: “In the absence of any assurance by Jordan that the torture evidence would not be used against Mr Othman, the court therefore concluded that his deportation to Jordan to be retried would give rise to a flagrant denial of justice in violation of Article 6.

“The court found that torture was widespread in Jordan, as was the use of torture evidence by the Jordanian courts,” it continued.

“The court also found that, in relation to each of the two terrorist conspiracies charged against Mr Othman, the evidence of his involvement had been obtained by torturing one of his co-defendants.

“The court agreed with Siac (Special Immigration Appeals Commission) that there was a high probability that the incriminating evidence would be admitted at Mr Othman’s retrial and that it would be of considerable, perhaps decisive, importance.”

So, Mr Cameron and Ms May are left with two options about what to do with what they see as al-Qaeda's crown prince of darkness, Othman Qatada, writes Home Affairs Correspondent Simon Israel.

The government can either release him from detention without trial or persuade the Jordanian royal family to drop the charges and cancel any trial. But the European Court of Human Rights judgement today is not a disaster for ministers nor another reason to justify legal independence from Europe.

What the judges have, in effect, told the British government is it can't alter history. Torture cannot be erased from a regime's record whatever changes take place.

On the other hand Strasbourg has in the same breath legalised diplomatic assurances. The deal struck with the Jordanian royal family may offer a blueprint for other future memorandums of understanding with other countries.

ECHR may simply have set the threshold to ease future deportations. But then what happens if there's regime change? Torture-free states are, sadly, not forever. Look across the Atlantic.

Call for terrorism trial

Human rights group Liberty said that Qatada should now be tried for terrorism in the UK.

Shami Chakrabarti, the group’s director, said: “Today’s decisions from the European Court of Human Rights show considerable trust in the UK legal system but understandable concern about Jordanian law.

“The court found that torture and evidence obtained that way is widespread in that country,” she added. “So it is clear that, if Abu Qatada is to be tried for terrorism, this should happen in a British court without further delay.”

Abu Qatada came to Britain in 1993 on a forged passport. He was first detained in 2002, after an immigration court described him as a “truly dangerous individual”.

He was released on bail in 2008 but returned to prison in November the same year over fears he would try to abscond.