(KUNA) -- Extremist preacher Abu Hamza has won his appeal against the Government's attempts to strip him of his British passport, a special tribunal ruled here Friday. The radical holy man argued that such a move would render him "stateless" as he had already been stripped of his Egyptian citizenship.
| I have a friend from Eritrea who was stateless at one point, so he acquired a U.N. passport -- no big deal. Later he became an American citizen, and has worked hard to be worthy of the gift. A pity Mr. Hamza doesn't understand gratitude, but I'm sure the U.N. would be happy to provide him with papers; he's just their type. |
Delivering its 12-page ruling today, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) allowed his appeal.
In his ruling, the Judge said: "We are satisfied on balance of probabilities that if a deprivation order were to be made, the appellant (Hamza) would be made stateless.
"The conclusions which we have reached in the closed judgment supplement, but do not contradict, that conclusion. "Accordingly, this appeal is allowed." Hamza, 52, was jugged for seven years in February 2006 for inciting murder and race hate. He is in Belmarsh Prison, south London, as he challenges attempts to extradite him to the US on terror charges. That case was delayed by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in July, which called for further submissions over the length of his sentence and the conditions he would experience if extradited to ADX Florence, a so-called "supermax" prison in Fremont County, Colorado.
Attempts to take his passport away were launched in 2003 but delayed by other legal actions against him. At a three-day hearing in London last month, Hamza's lawyers argued he has already been stripped of his Egyptian citizenship so cannot have his British passport taken too, as that would render him "stateless". But the Home Office said there was no documentation to prove he was no longer an Egyptian national and though he was once denied an Egyptian passport, he was later allowed one. The commission heard Hamza may have had his Egyptian nationality revoked but the country's government would not confirm whether he had or not. The holy man came to Britain on a student visa and acquired a British passport through marriage. He was denied an Egyptian passport in 1982 because he had not undertaken military service, the panel heard, but a decree in 1988 allowed him his citizenship back. |