British Gov’t Angry After Court Again Grants Bail to Cleric With Suspected Al Qaeda Ties
- Posted on February 7, 2012 at 12:04pm by
Billy Hallowell
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Extremist Cleric Abu Qatada (AP)
LONDON (The Blaze/AP) — Britain‘s attorney general said Tuesday he understands why the government is angry about a court’s decision to release an extremist cleric described as one of Europe’s leading al-Qaeda operatives on bail but that authorities must follow the rule of law with everyone.
Britain’s Home Office had wanted cleric Abu Qatada to remain in prison while he fights a legal battle to avoid extradition to Jordan to face terror charges, but a judge at Britain’s Special Immigration Appeals Tribunal granted him bail this week.
This, of course, isn’t the first time the radical leader has been released. Here’s an old report that recaps his 2008 bail release:
Abu Qatada has been imprisoned in Britain for more than six years without ever being charged with a crime here, but he was convicted in absentia in Jordan of terrorist offenses related to two alleged bomb plots in 1999 and 2000, and he would be expected to face a retrial there if deported from Britain.
“Abu Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, 51, featured in hate sermons found on videos in the flat of one of the 9/11 bombers,” the Guardian reports. “Since his original detention in October 2002, every attempt to deport him to Jordan has been frustrated.”
Attorney General Dominic Grieve told the BBC that he understood the government is “obviously very concerned” about the radical cleric but said people cannot be imprisoned indefinitely without trial.
“We obviously don’t have indefinite internment without trial in this country,” he said. “Individuals enjoy the right to liberty and government is bound by the rule of law and has to observe it.”
He added: “The government is obviously very concerned about this case and very much wishes to see Abu Qatada deported to Jordan and, when he is in Jordan, tried fairly if the Jordanian authorities wish to put him on trial.”
Abu Qatada‘s case has pitched British and European courts against Britain’s Home Office, which has said repeatedly that it believes Abu Qatada is a threat to national security and should remain in prison while in Britain.
Home Secretary Theresa May’s attempts to deport him were set back last month when the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled that he should not be deported because of the risk evidence obtained through torture would be used against him. Britain now has a three-month window to make a final appeal to the Strasbourg-based court.
Many British newspapers Tuesday supported the government and voiced anger about Abu Qatada’s impending release.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper said the case “epitomizes the waning power of the British state to decide who can and cannot remain in this country,“ while the Daily Mail said the ruling meant there would be a ”terrorist on the school run,” referring to the fact that Abu Qatada would be allowed to walk his children to school.
Abu Qatada – whose real name is Omar Mahmoud Mohammed Othman – has never faced criminal charges in Britain, but authorities in Britain have accused him of advising militants and raising money for terrorist attacks. He has been described in both Spanish and British courts as a leading al Qaeda figure in Europe.
A Palestinian-Jordanian citizen, Abu Qatada arrived in Britain in 1993 and was detained in 2002 under anti-terrorism laws that at the time allowed suspected terrorists to be held in jail without charge.
Although Abu Qatada was released in 2005 when the unpopular law was overturned, he was kept under surveillance and arrested again within months.
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mike_trivisonno
Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:56pmLondon Olympics, 2012.
Go and witness just how dhimmified the citizens have become.
Go and view the Royal Grounds where Prince Charles recently proclaimed he is no longer “Defender of the Faith”, but, acquiescing to demands from a certain population, is now “Defender of the Faiths”, and then participated in an Islamic ritual.
Go and see where the Archbishop of Canterbury submitted to Allah, spat upon God, and accepted that certain aspects of Islam will be enacted in British society.
Go and see America’s future should we content to allows Islam to infect our Western Culture.
Report Post »1casawizard
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 11:37pmEveryone is entitled to their opinion. If you have one express it.
Report Post »Counter-Culture Revolutionist
Posted on February 8, 2012 at 6:04amAnother example of political correctness insanity. Maybe he will escape from the UK and head for the US border that Obama has deliberately left unguarded. DID YOU GUYS SEE BECK’S SPECIAL ON THE BORDER LAST NIGHT? (It starts about an hour and a half into the two-hour TV show.) TERRIFYING!
Report Post »bankerpapaw
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 3:34pmOle’ porky looks like Curly on the Three Stooges only with more hair. My apologizes to Curly.
Report Post »barnsy
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 5:45pmLight this bigmouth’s beard on fire! Give him a taste of the hell he will soon occupy.
Report Post »Square Dancer
Posted on February 8, 2012 at 7:54amTruly a funny comment..LMAO all the way to the floor!
Report Post »TXVET48
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 3:27pmBring the man here. We can use the National Defense Authorization Act to detain him indefinitely. Man, BHO must have had this in mind when he rushed that act through.
Report Post »1casawizard
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 11:45pmWe might need to introduce him to a board and H2O. That is a person of interest. A no release kind of guy.
Report Post »g.prunty
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 2:32pmwhen he is cutting the head off of a Jew where is their human rights?
Report Post »Constantine Ivanov
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 2:43pmThey cut off heads not only of Jews but also of Muzzlems, I dare remind you.
Report Post »Larry E
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:48pmI’d like to contravene his human rights, but unfortunately all the leftists think that we need to defend and protect all mslms whether or not they’d just as soon whittle our heads off with a dull knife. This guy and his fellows need a nice hanging then they can go to their paradise and meet their 72 vermin.
Report Post »Constantine Ivanov
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 2:41pmI agree. But…
Report Post »Multiply the number of known and potential Muzzlem murderers by 72 and tell me where can they get such a huge number of virgins from?
Only second-hand virgins are the solution, I think. Or plastic toys (like Barbies)
1casawizard
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 11:55pmI think the deal is if you kill innocent people including fetuses is you get a chance of a 72 y.o. virgin or 72 wives who wish you were dead.
Report Post »sjohn70037
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:42pmComing to a courthouse near you… soon.
Report Post »originalthought
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:38pmLiberals will make themselves feel superior with their silly humane rules of war until the bill comes due. Then as usual conservatives will have to step forward and win a war that would have been avoided or at minimum made not so hard to win. War is hell. Accept it and move forward or watch your children die.
Report Post »spirited
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:37pmUnless it‘s part of the ’release & catch –even– bigger fish, there should be great concern.
>Kinda fast and furious. No?
Report Post »Truth and Justice
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:29pmBritain is doomed and America is next!!!
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:37pmAmerica will see some horrible times, but she will never be doomed!!
Report Post »barnsy
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 2:40pmNot surprising commong from Londonistan. The European PC fools are giong to be very sorry very soon.
Report Post »Square Dancer
Posted on February 8, 2012 at 7:57amAbby….if we re-elect SOBama, we ARE doomed. This country will never be the same if the current administration continues.
Report Post »discus02
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:23pmDrop him in Israel I am sure they have an empty cell for this piece of trash!
Report Post »tiredofprogressives
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:21pmWhat a bunch of fools the brits have become. They, like americans, sit by and watch the super bowl and basketball while the feds and federal activist judges pass laws which are taking away rights, liberties, and freedoms of americans. What fools.
Report Post »rienheart
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:12pmAmerica is in the same mindset as England. We are destroying ourselves because of Political Correctness, and Leftist Communists/ jihadists infiltration of every level of Government the Press, and the Courts. We only have ourselves to blame for being asleep and letting it happen.
Report Post »dmerwin
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:07pmSounds like the Holder and Obama approach to handling terrorists.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:04pmThe Court System… is too Liberal & Mechanical, attempting to create it’s own version of Reality!
Report Post »gpk
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:01pmAnother fat ugly dude. Too much bacon?
Report Post »M13
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 12:46pmMaybe they should assassinate him and blame it on the Jordanian spy agency.
Report Post »barber2
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 12:36pmInteresting how our system of government, which assures the rights of the individual, can. at the same time, endanger others when that individual being protected is committed to destroy the very society which offers him/her protection. ( maybe that is why their culture still practices Sharia Law – because so many of them are dangerous ! )
Report Post »Rightsofman
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 12:34pmOk they’re willing to accept the casualties in the name of being thoght of as being nice folks.
Report Post »JP4JOY
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 12:13pmSo first the Brits conquer Muslim nations and import their low class labor from these nations. Then these peoples petition the govmt for rights, then demand them. Then these foreign workers bring large numbers of their own into the country for the “benefits” that can be had. Then all these immigrants are upset because it’s not like it was at home, so they need to be left alone with their morays. Now the Brits start complaining that the SHHTF? Oh, I‘m sorry is that what we’ve done too? Oh CRAP!!!
Report Post »TruthHurtsBad
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 12:51pmBritain is a mess, the vast majority of their populace is utterly brainwashed by the multicultural left. They openly despise their own culture, history, traditions, and ethnicity. England in 40 years will no longer be English. As an Anglophile it pains me greatly to see how the English are accepting the destruction of their own nation.
God save Britain!
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 12:54pmyep, pretty much
Report Post »copatriots
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 1:00pmWell said, JP.
Um, TRUTH, America is but a few years behind Britain. Please extend your grief to the U.S. while you’re at it. :-)
Report Post »SoupSandwich
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 2:10pmQue?
Report Post »