European Court of Human Rights. Photograph by Djtm
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that terror suspect Haroon Aswat should not be extradited from the UK to the US due to his mental health issues.
Aswat is alleged to have attempted to create an Islamist training camp in Oregon with the radical cleric Abu Hamza, who was extradited to the US last year. He has been detained since 2008 at the Broadmoor high security psychiatric hospital since 2008 due to his paranoid schizophrenia, and his lawyers claim that the conditions in a US “supermax” prison could exacerbate this condition.
Aswat was originally arrested in 2005 following an extradition request from US authorities over terrorism offences, but was transferred to Broadmoor after three years in prison.
Today’s judgement from the ECHR does not become final for three months and a Home Office spokesman has said that they are disappointed with the ruling, adding that they would
The Home Office has expressed disappointment at the court ruling, saying:
“We are disappointed that the European Court of Human Rights found that extradition to America would breach Haroon Aswat’s human rights…The judgment does not become final for three months and we will consider as a matter of urgency all the legal options which are available to us. This includes whether we request a referral of the case to the Court’s Grand Chamber.”
