EU court blocks terror suspect extradition

LONDON: A European court yesterday blocked Britain from extraditing a mentally ill suspect accused of trying to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that sending Haroon Aswat to a prison in the United States would breach his human rights due to the "severity of his mental condition."
The Strasbourg, France-based court said Aswat, a British citizen who is being held in England's Broadmoor secure psychiatric hospital, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
"In light of the medical evidence before it, the court found that there was a real risk that Mr. Aswat's extradition to the US, a country to which he had no ties, and to a different, potentially more hostile prison environment, would result in a significant deterioration in his mental and physical health," the panel of seven judges said.
Aswat is accused by US prosecutors of conspiring with radical cleric Mustafa Kamel Mustafa — also known as Abu Hamza Al-Masri — to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, more than a decade ago.
Mustafa, who gained notoriety in Britain as the fiery head preacher at London's Finsbury Park Mosque, was extradited to the United States last year after losing a long legal battle. He is currently awaiting trial.
Aswat was arrested on a US warrant in 2005, and has been fighting extradition ever since.
Britain's Home Office said it was disappointed by the ruling, and was considering whether to appeal to a higher body of the court, the Grand Chamber.
Fixed terms for 3 terror accused
Meanwhile three men convicted of belonging to a gang that plotted to bomb the London Stock Exchange and build a terrorist training camp have had their open-ended sentences changed to fixed terms.
Three London judges ruled yesterday that the men should instead receive "determinate" fixed-length sentences. The men were originally given indeterminate sentences in February 2012 for their role in what prosecutors claimed were Al-Qaeda inspired crimes.
Mohammed Shahjahan, 29, will now be sentenced to just over 17 years, while 22-year-old Usman Khan and Nazam Hussain, 27, will each serve 16 years.
Prosecutors said the three were part of a group of nine men planning attacks that could have led to serious casualties or fatalities.