Radical preacher sent back to prison as (UK) judges rule on secret evidence

[Bozita]

Source: The Guardian UK

Radical preacher sent back to prison as judges rule on secret evidence
• Islamist Qatada deemed to be at risk of absconding
• Bail revoked pending decision on deportation

Alan Travis, home affairs editor
The Guardian, Wednesday December 3 2008
Article history


Radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada yesterday had his bail revoked and was returned to indefinite detention in a maximum security prison pending the outcome of a legal battle over his deportation to Jordan.

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac), in effect Britain's national security court, ruled that evidence from the security services, heard in secret, had convinced them there was now an increased risk of Qatada absconding.

Qatada, described by a Spanish judge as Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe, was released on bail in June to live with his family in west London under a 22-hour curfew after the court of appeal ruled it was unsafe to return him to Jordan.

The preacher has spent three and half years in maximum security jails since he was first declared a risk to national security in January 2001 on the grounds that he encouraged other extremists to commit acts of terrorism by providing religious sanction for them.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/03/abu-qatada-bail-revoked