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| Britain | ||
| Abu Hamza jailed for seven years | ||
| 2006-02-07 | ||
| Controversial Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has been jailed for seven years after he was found him guilty of inciting murder and race hate. Abu Hamza, 47, who preached at Finsbury Park mosque, London, was found guilty of 11 of the 15 charges he faced. He was sentenced to seven years to run concurrently for eight counts and 21 months for the others. He has already been in jail since May 2004. US authorities are seeking the cleric's extradition for terror-related matters. He is wanted on charges of trying to set up a "terrorist training camp" in the state of Oregon. Abu Hamza was also found guilty of having audio and video tapes intended to encourage racial hatred and having a document for terror purposes.
Following his arrest, more than 3,000 audio cassettes and 600 videos were found of speeches intended for wider distribution. And a terror manual - an encyclopaedia of Afghani Jihad - found at his west London home listed Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty as possible targets for an attack. A search of Finsbury Park mosque, in north London, also led to the discovery of forged passports, CS gas, knives, guns capable of firing blanks and tents. Police tactics BBC Home Editor Mark Easton said police believed the mosque was "linked to literally dozens of terrorist plots around Europe and beyond". He pointed out that police confiscated the terror manual from Abu Hamza in 1999, before later returning it to him. Mr Easton went on: "The debate now will be about the tactics used by the police, by the security services and others to keep an eye on the mosque over many years, knowing that there certainly were links to Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and elsewhere." Jurors watched around 20 hours of video tapes of the cleric's sermons. Behaviour like Abu Hamza's is not a legitimate exercise in free speech - in fact it deliberately threatens openness and diversity Ken Macdonald QC Director of Public Prosecutions The court heard him describe Jews as the "enemy of Islam", tell followers to "bleed" the enemies of Islam and they should not rest until they created a "Muslim state". The jury heard that he did not aim his vitriolic rhetoric only against Jews, unbelievers and the democratic West. In Abu Hamza's numerous lectures and sermons, targets included homosexual vicars, the tourist industry, the royal family and women in bikinis. His defence was that he was encouraging Muslims to stand up for themselves. The prosecution had told the court that Abu Hamza was a recruiting sergeant for terrorism and murder. David Perry, prosecuting, said the cleric made clear encouragements to kill when he gave lectures and sermons at the Finsbury Park mosque and in Luton, Blackburn and Whitechapel, east London. The jury heard that Abu Hamza "was preaching terrorism, homicidal violence and hatred". They also heard that the preacher had "used the most dangerous weapons available - a great religion, Islam, his position as a civic leader and the power of words, his own words". Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald QC said Abu Hamza had preached "a dangerous mix of hatred and violence" that "had nothing to do with the true teachings of Islam as it is practised peacefully and tolerantly by millions of people in Britain and around the world". He added: "Behaviour like Abu Hamza's is not a legitimate exercise in free speech. In fact it deliberately threatens openness and diversity. "Where appropriate, prosecutors will not hesitate to bring further cases in this category in future." Abu Hamza will remain at Belmarsh high security prison, where he has been held since his arrest. | ||
| Posted by:tipper |
| #8 Seven years? That's not too bad. Better than being assigned to community service at the local Wahhabi Mosque. |
| Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen 2006-02-07 17:05 |
| #7 You can't fight a war with judges, lawyers and policmen. It's a delusion of the elites that run our worlds governments. It's a delusion that the "governed" will have to disabuse the ruling elites of. I don't think Europe and the UK are up to it. Sadly our ruling elites are still felching the imams and "muslim moderates" who are actually islamo-fascist provocateurs. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2006-02-07 15:48 |
| #6 I thought life sentences were served "at the pleasure of the Queen"? |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-02-07 11:46 |
| #5 what .com said plus, It's an open question as to whether English courts are set up to protect the homeland internally during this war. Seems to me that the entire European immune system is still failing to cope with this virulant invader. |
| Posted by: RD 2006-02-07 11:30 |
| #4 6 counts of solicitation to murder... 7 years... Amazing You forget about amnesty, paroling or liberations due to "bad health". |
| Posted by: JFM 2006-02-07 11:18 |
| #3 6 counts of solicitation to murder... 7 years... Amazing. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-07 11:01 |
| #2 guns capable of firing blanks and tents Dayum, I've always wanted one of those tent guns! Nothing sets up a camp faster. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-02-07 10:58 |
| #1 Time for him to slip on a bar of soap |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-02-07 10:57 |