It must seem awfully peculiar to Americans that it should take their courts to convict Abu Hamza on terrorism charges, including a kidnapping he orchestrated in Yemen which resulted in the deaths of three British citizens.
Both the Home Secretary and Prime Minister have welcomed yesterday’s verdict. Yet, to listen to them is to forget that it has taken more than 15 years and a foreign court to hold Abu Hamza to account for these crimes, circumstances which should be the cause of outrage – not celebration.
This merriment is indicative of a discrete policy now being pursued by the Coalition which effectively outsources terrorism trials. In some cases there are legitimate reasons to extradite suspects, such as Abu Qatada who has charges to answer in Jordan. But it is also being applied in a number of cases where crimes have either been committed against British citizens or were planned in the UK.
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