Abu Qatada: Government appeal bid rejected

[Guest]

The Court of Appeal has refused the government permission to take its fight to remove Abu Qatada from the UK to the Supreme Court. Home Secretary Theresa May had wanted the Supreme Court to overturn a decision by a lower court to halt the cleric's deportation.

Mrs May could still petition the Supreme Court directly for permission to appeal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22269388

[Resurrection Man]

Yes...we all read that in the newspapers as well.

So the point of your post was, well, what exactly ?

No opinion...no comment....in your post.

Fishing perhaps. Ah well...

[amateur51]

Yes...we all read that in the newspapers as well.

So the point of your post was, well, what exactly ?

No opinion...no comment....in your post.

Fishing perhaps. Ah well...

Well it was news when I posted it, RM :erm::smiley:

[Ian Thumwood]

I think that this whole Abu Qatada business has now blown up to something of extreme importance from a constitutional point of view and throws some serious doubts on this country's perception of itself as a democracy. The case for expulsion of this individual has been rejected continually by various levels of courts in the British judicial system and the position taken by various Home Secretaries have been thrown out by the European Courts. The law has been demostrated without excpetion to allow no mechanism for deportation where the individual runs the risk of facing a foriegn court that may have used torture to gain the necessary evidence for the prosecution. This has been proved time and time again and the British Govt has no grounds to proceed with deportation.

For me, the interesting thing is that if Abu Qatada is an evil as he have been led to believe, why it hasn't been possible to charge him with a crime sufficient enough for him to remain in custody. I also think it would be better for him to be detained in a British jail as opposed to a foreign one as him will remain under British supervision. Whilst I would not agree with any of the views alleged to have been esposed by Qatada, if he knew he was likely to face torture in Jordan, it is hardly surprising that he attempted to come to Britain under a false passport. The worrying aspect of this case is that he is now in a position that the attention of the media means that he is equally unlikely to get a fair trial in the UK either.

I can't recall many other cases where a British Govt has pursued an individual as is this case. This is an example of the executive trying to ride rough-shod over the legal system just because the courts have repeatedly come up with the same conclusion that they do not like. At the moment, I feel that this has revealed itself most shockingly in the case of Babar Ahmad but I strongly believe the demonisation of Qatada in the media and the efforts of the last two Govt's to thwart the courts is very much against the British notion of a fail trial. Fair enough, if Qatada has supported terrorism and this can be proven (to my understanding this is not the case and his "reputation" has largely been based upon the comments of a Spanish judge) he should be tried for his crimes and sentanced accordingly. As things stand, I believe he has commited no crime in the UK and the relentless persecution by the British Govt is an outrage and a disgraceful abuse of civil liberties. I would not condone for once Islamic jihadist-related terrorism but for the State to repeatedly set itself against the individual we found ourselves entering dangerous ground especially if we are dealing with other matters such as Right to life, the access to medicines, etc, etc. We are almost reaching a position where Qatada is accidentally become a case which is defining the supremacy of the courts to uphold the rights of a citizen as opposed to the political will of the executive. I doubt if Qatada would have ever appreciated when the legal process began that he is fighting for the same kind of rights as pursued when King John was pressurised in to signing the Magan Carta. I reject a lot of what Qatada is alleged to represent but I think it is ironic in maintaining his position he is , in fact, up-holding the right of every British citizen. A truly bizarre situation. It is odd to think that it took a Frenchman, Simon de Montfort , to defend our rights in the 13th Century whilst Qatada could unwittingly be assisting with the future liberty of British citizens in the 21st Century. We might not like the fact that he remains in the Uk, but the rule of law must prevail.

Meanwhile......

http://www.freebabarahmad.com/