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Abu Hamza suffering from depression and sleep deprivation, court told Abu Hamza suffering from depression and sleep deprivation, court told
(about 5 hours later)
The Islamist cleric Abu Hamza is suffering from depression and chronic sleep deprivation due to harsh prison conditions, the high court has been told.The Islamist cleric Abu Hamza is suffering from depression and chronic sleep deprivation due to harsh prison conditions, the high court has been told.
The 48-year-old, who was detained in Belmarsh jail in south-east London for eight years, was woken every hour of the night in the high-security unit, his barrister, Alun Jones QC said. The 48-year-old, who was detained in Belmarsh jail in south-east London for eight years, was woken every hour of the night in the high-security unit, his barrister, Alun Jones QC, revealed.
A medical report drawn up in August recorded that Hamza was suffering from type 2 diabetes and had to shower twice a day because of sweating. A medical report drawn up in August recorded that he is suffering from type 2 diabetes and has to shower twice a day because of excessive sweating.
The court is considering applications from Hamza and four other terrorist suspects who are seeking to extend injunctions preventing their extradition to the US, where they are wanted on al-Qaida-related charges. The court is considering applications from Hamza and four other terrorist suspects who are seeking to extend injunctions preventing their extradition to the US, where they are wanted on al Qaida-related charges.
Hamza is also suffering from memory loss and is unfit plead at any trial, Jones told the court. Hamza is also suffering from memory loss and is unfit to plead at any trial, Jones told the court.
"He has been kept in an utterly unacceptable conditions for eight years," "He has been kept in utterly unacceptable conditions for eight years," Jones said. "His sleep deprivation is primarily because he is woken every hour by prison officers who turn on the light to check on him." Belmarsh's high-security unit, he explained, is the "most restrictive regime in the prison estate" in the UK.
Jones said. "His sleep deprivation is primarily because he is woken every hour by prison officers who turn on the light to check on him." Doctors who examined him have requested that he be given an MRI scan to assess whether he has a degenerative medical condition.
Belmarsh's high-security unit, he added, was the "most restrictive regime in the prison estate" in the UK. But one of the judges hearing the case, Sir John Thomas, said: "It could be said that the sooner he stands trial, the better for his condition. I don't see how delay can be in the interests of justice." Good medical treatment is available in the US, he added.
Doctors who examined Hamza have requested that he be given an MRI scan to assess whether he has a degenerative medical condition. The radical cleric is, additionally, said to feel "persecuted" by the press. Jones said Hamza had become a figure of such public notoriety that he had been reduced to the state of "pantomime villain".
But one of the judges hearing the case, Sir John Thomas, said: "It could be said that the sooner he stands trial the better for his condition. I don't see how delay can be in the interests of justice." On 21 September, Hamza was moved to Long Lartin prison, where the other suspects fighting deportation are being held. The Home Office is in the final stages of preparations for deporting the five terrorist suspects.
The radical cleric is also said to be feeling "persecuted" by the press. Lawyers for two of the other men, Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan, condemned the decision by the Crown Prosecution Service not to charge them in the UK as "irrational".
On 21 September, Hamza was moved to Long Lartin prison where the other suspects fighting deportation are being held. Phillippa Kauffman QC, for the two men, questioned the refusal of the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, to consent to a private prosecution.
Meanwhile, the civil rights group Liberty is seeking to intervene in the high court proceedings against the government and DPP for not allowing another of the suspects, Babar Ahmad, to be prosecuted in the UK. Ahmad and Ahsan are accused of setting up terrorist fundraising websites. Ahmad has been detained in a British jail for eight years without charge.
Ahmad is accused of setting up terrorist fundraising websites and has been detained for eight years without charge. The authorities will neither prosecute nor allow the private prosecution attempted by businessman Karl Watkin. "They have both admitted responsibility for involvement in the Azzam website," Kauffman said, "and of possession of the items found during searches of their homes."
Liberty said: "If all or a substantial part of the alleged criminal conduct took place in the UK, a person should face trial here where it is in the interests of justice that they should do so." But Thomas commented: "There's no admission of any offence here. The defendant is trying to dictate where he is prosecuted."
James Eadie QC, for the British government, said that under the law the Home Secretary could proceed with their deportation whatever the decision on a private prosecution.
The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has given an undertaking that the five men will not be deported before the court reaches its judgment, which is expected on Friday.