Let me go back to a cushier jail in UK, pleads hook-handed hate cleric Hamza
ABU Hamza is lobbying to be returned to a British jail from his ‘supermax’ prison in the United States.
The hook-handed hate preacher claims he is being treated inhumanely by being starved of human contact and medical care.
He was extradited to the US following an eight-year legal battle that cost British taxpayers almost £1million. Convicted of terrorism offences, the 59-year-old is serving life at the ADX Florence prison in Colorado.
According to court papers, the Egyptianborn father of eight has been in solitary confinement since October 2015 and is allowed only ‘one hour per day of recreation time’.
The former cleric of the Finsbury Park mosque, who is blind in one eye, claims his treatment is a breach of article 3 of the
‘Kept in solitary confinement’
Human Rights Act, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
He wants to return to Belmarsh in southeast London where – during his extradition battle – he was allowed to mix with other inmates and had daily medical support.
ADX Florence is known as the ‘Alcatraz of the Rockies’ and houses the most dangerous inmates in the US, including Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. Inmates are confined to tiny cells measuring 7ft by 12ft.
The 242-page appeal, filed under Hamza’s real name, Mostafa Kamel Mostafa, states: ‘Mostafa is permitted to one hour per day of recreation time outside of his cell.
‘Even during that one-hour recreation, however, Mostafa is still confined within a cell-sized cage and is in that cage alone.’ The submission says his cell is not suitable for a double-amputee who suffers from diabetes and psoriasis, and has a neurological condition that produces excessive sweating.
It adds: ‘The stumps in both arms are subject to regular outbreaks of infection, which have been increasing in severity.’
He was moved to the supermax from the comparatively relaxed Medical Centre for Federal Prisoners, in Missouri, in 2015.
Michael Bachrach, one of his appeal lawyers, said: ‘We strongly believe the conditions of his confinement violate the expectations of the European Convention on Human Rights and the promises that were made by the US government to the British and European courts as part of the extradition process. He would go back to Belmarsh in a second if he could.’
His legal case also contends that his notoriety meant he did not receive a fair trial when he was convicted in New York in January 2015 of 11 terrorism counts, including hostage-taking in Yemen, sending recruits to Afghanistan to join Al Qaeda and helping to set up a jihadist training camp in Oregon.
The papers, obtained by the Sunday Times, state: ‘This appeal raises the question of whether a fiery orator can receive a fair trial when his speeches offend the values that Americans hold dear.’
Mr Bachrach said the cleric was ‘hopeful’ about his appeal.
In 2006 he was jailed in Britain for soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred.