Muslim cleric & 'security risk' Abu Qatada released
Home Secretary Theresa May has vowed to continue to do everything to 'get rid of' radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada despite his release from prison today. The British government has been working for months to get Qatada - deemed as a 'dangerous man' and a 'huge security risk' - get deported to Jordan to faces charges of terrorism. Qatada, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, was once described by a Spanish judge as "Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe". He's been in and out of jail for 7 years without charge. And fears he'll be tortured in Jordan.
Home Secretary Theresa May is furious over the last minute appeal, saying torture there is illegal.
Despite these assurances, despite the determination of the Jordanian government and judiciary to allow Qatada, a fair trial, despite the change to the Jordanian constitution that expressly prohibits torture and the use of evidence obtained by torture in the absence of clear case law Mr Justice Mitting still found in Qatada, favour. In doing so we believe he applied the wrong legal test….The government has been doing everything that it can to get rid of Abu Qatada and we will continue to do so.
Qatada will be released from Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire today and can go back to his current home in London, but he'll be under a strict 16 hour curfew.
Written and presented by Marverine Cole