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Abu Qatada wins Jordan deportation appeal Abu Qatada wins Jordan deportation appeal
(40 minutes later)
Radical cleric Abu Qatada has won his appeal against deportation to Jordan. Radical cleric Abu Qatada has won a European Court of Human Rights appeal against deportation from the UK to Jordan.
The European Court of Human Rights said that the preacher could not be removed from the UK because of Jordan's record on torture. The judges accepted the UK's deal with Jordan to protect him from abuse was sound.
The Strasbourg judges accepted that the UK's deal with Jordan over treatment of deported suspects was sound. But the court said that the preacher might face trial based on evidence obtained by the torture of others.
Abu Qatada has fought for six years against deportation, saying he faced trial based on evidence extracted by torture. Abu Qatada has fought for six years against deportation from the UK, saying he faced an unfair trial if sent home.
The British government can make a final attempt to appeal the judgement before it becomes binding in three months' time. Home Secretary Theresa May said it was "not the end of the road" and ministers would consider all options.
The British government can make a final appeal before the judgement becomes binding in three months' time. If it doesn't appeal, the cleric will have to be released from detention.
Qatada has been convicted in his absence of involvement in two major terrorism plots in Jordan. He said that not only were those convictions based on evidence extracted by torture, but he himself faced ill-treatment if he was returned.
The government signed a memorandum of understanding with Jordan as part of its efforts to deport him, one of a number of deals with foreign regimes which are designed to protect the human rights of anyone deported from the UK.
In the ruling, the Strasbourg court accepted that diplomatic assurances given by Jordan to the UK meant that the cleric would be protected from torture if he were returned.
But it added: "Torture and the use of torture evidence were banned under international law. Allowing a criminal court to rely on torture evidence would legitimise the torture of witnesses and suspects pre-trial. Moreover, torture evidence was unreliable, because a person being tortured would say anything to make it stop.
"The Court found that torture was widespread in Jordan, as was the use of torture evidence by the Jordanian courts. The Court also found that, in relation to each of the two terrorist conspiracies charged against Mr Othman, the evidence of his involvement had been obtained by torturing one of his co-defendants.
"When those two co-defendants stood trial, the Jordanian courts had not taken any action in relation to their complaints of torture."
Strasbourg said that it was highly probable that the "decisive" evidence against the preacher had come from the abuse of other suspects.
"In the absence of any assurance by Jordan that the torture evidence would not be used against Mr Othman, the Court therefore concluded that his deportation to Jordan to be retried would give rise to a flagrant denial of justice in violation of [his right to a fair trial]".
In a statement, Home Secretary Theresa May said: "I am disappointed that the court has made this ruling. This is not the end of the road, and we will now consider all the legal options available to us. In the meantime, Qatada will remain in detention in the UK.
"It is important to note that this ruling does not prevent us seeking to deport other foreign nationals."