AMMAN: Radical cleric Abu Qatada told a Jordanian court on Tuesday he was not guilty of terrorism charges and challenged its authority to try him under the terms of his deportation from Britain five months ago.

Appearing in court in brown prison fatigues, Abu Qatada said the presence of a military judge in the panel of three judges violated the agreement under which he was flown back to Jordan in July after years of legal battles in Britain.

The cleric has already been sentenced in absentia by a Jordanian court to life imprisonment for conspiracy to carry out Al-Qaeda-style attacks against US and other targets inside Jordan. He is now being retried on those charges.

“I have been prevented from defending myself for a long period, and God knows that I am innocent,” said Abu Qatada, saying that the charges against him were fabricated.

“There has been a betrayal of the agreement under which I have come. There is now a military judge — this is the first betrayal by you. I have come to be tried by civilian judges.”

“This court is a betrayal of the agreement and I don’t recognize it,” said Abu Qatada, whose real name is Mahmoud Othman.

Before the trial started he joked with reporters about his life in Britain, where he spent two decades. “It’s better here than Britain. The treatment is good here. The British press have not been fair to me and hurt me.”

His lawyer Ghazi Thuneibat called for Abu Qatada’s release, saying his client’s rights had been violated by the presence of a military judge and baseless evidence that was extracted under torture from other defendants.

But prosecutor Col. Fawaz Al-Atoum said Jordan’s state security court law allowed for military tribunals in cases of terrorism.