This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/6826
January 4, 2015
Muslim hate preacher Abu Hamza should not be sent to high security U.S. jail because he is disabled, his lawyers say
Abu Hamza should not be sent to high security jail 'because he is disabled'
The terrorist amputee's lawyers argue he could pick up infections
Muslim hate preacher was found guilty of plotting to open U.S. terror camp
Prosecutors call for Hamza to be jailed for life at maximum security jail
Muslim hate preacher Abu Hamza should not be sent to a high security U.S. jail because of his disabilities, his lawyers say.
Hamza, who has both arms amputated at the forearm and is missing an eye, was convicted in America in May of terrorism offences after he was extradited from Britain in 2012.
His lawyers say the radical cleric, who preached at Finsbury Park Mosque, in London, should be sent to a prison medical centre so his health needs can be met.
Hamza, 56, was found guilty of aiding terrorists who kidnapped tourists in Yemen in 1998 and others who plotted to open a terror training camp in the U.S. state of Oregon.
Prosecutors have called for him to be sentenced to life in prison.
But in court papers last week, Hamza's lawyers said he would face unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment if his amputated forearms, psoriasis, diabetes and high blood pressure were not taken into account at his sentencing in Manhattan this coming Friday.
The hate preacher's lawyers acknowledge that he took part in 'terrible crimes', but argue that the US government made promises to Hamza about any future incarceration during extradition proceedings from the UK.
But prosecutors responded in court papers that the government never promised the UK that Hamza would not be assigned to a maximum security prison in Colorado.
They also insisted life in prison was the only appropriate sentence, saying Hamza 'waged a global war of jihad against those that he considered infidels. He sent men to American soil to learn how to fight and kill in support of that war'.
By Ollie Gillman for MailOnline
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/6826