Sarkozy shows the way to boot out a preacher of hate
Just hours after expulsion order, two extremists are put on a plane - are you listening, Mrs May?
TWO radical Islamists were kicked out of France yesterday – prompting calls for Theresa May to take the same no-nonsense approach when it comes to removing extremists. Nicolas Sarkozy demanded the deportation of a convicted terrorist and a hate preacher.
No sooner had the expulsion order been signed than the pair were put on flights out of the country. The swift departures led to comparisons with Britain’s embarrassingly flawed efforts to remove hate preacher Abu Qatada who is wanted in Jordan on terror charges.
He is out on bail after the European Court of Human Rights blocked his deportation on the grounds that Qatada would not face a fair trial if returned.
Home Secretary Mrs May has insisted she wants to secure an agreement with Jordan which would satisfy the Strasbourg court and allow Qatada to be removed from Britain. Despite this however, officials insist any attempt to remove him in breach of the court’s ruling
‘There will be no exceptions’
would be met with a court injunction by his lawyers.
French law allows swift removal of foreigners, with around 20,000 non-eu nationals being expelled every year. Unlike in Britain, where cases can drag on for years, rights of appeal are strictly curtailed.
In this country, ministers wait until a subject’s legal options are exhausted before removing them from the country. This can include a lengthy appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
But in France, Italy and other European countries, terror suspects have been removed even if legal proceedings are still going on, or even in breach of a Strasbourg ruling.
Mr Sarkozy, who is behind in the polls going into this month’s Presidential election, said: ‘Those who make remarks contrary to the values of the Republic will be put outside the French Republic. There will be no exceptions.’
Almany Baradji, an imam, was sent back to Mali for ‘ preaching anti- Semitism’ and calling on women to wear the full veil, which is illegal in France.
Ali Belhadad, an Algerian convicted for his role in a 1994 terror attack in Marrakesh that killed 14 people, was flown to Algiers after the authorities discovered he had resumed contact with Islamic activists. Another man, Saad Nasser Alshastry, a Saudi imam, was barred from returning to France.
Last night Tory MP for Shipley Philip Davies said: ‘It would be nice if we adopted the same approach in this country.
‘I’m sure this isn’t disconnected to the forthcoming presidential elections in France. This is what irritates the public about politicians – they take these actions before the election and once voting ends, normal service resumes.
‘I think the British public want to see these people deported.’
The row comes ahead of a key ruling by the Strasbourg court over the extradition of hook-handed extremist Abu Hamza.
He is wanted for terror offences in the U.S. but has argued that sending him for trial would breach his human rights. A decision on his case and that of five other terror suspects will be delivered next Tuesday. Douglas Carswell, MP for Clacton, added: ‘The fact seems to be that we can throw out Abu Qatada and others like him if we want to. It’s just a question of will in Whitehall.’ On Monday a senior judge expressed his astonishment that an Algerian terrorist who was thrown out of France is now living in Britain.
The 49-year-old was convicted of a 1992 airport bomb attack in his country. He lived in France where he was jailed for membership of a terrorist group and ordered to be deported.
In 2001 he came to Britain and since then has been fighting to claim asylum in the UK. The Court of Appeal ruled in his favour. The crackdown in France follows the killings of seven people last month by Al Qaeda-inspired gunman Mohamed Merah. The victims included three Jewish schoolchildren.