Jailed cleric Hamza loses conviction appeal

29 Nov, 2006

Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri lost his appeal on Tuesday against convictions for inciting racial hatred and soliciting murder after top judges ruled he did receive a fair trial.
Egyptian-born Hamza, 48, was jailed for seven years in February after being found guilty at the Old Bailey of 11 of 15 charges mostly relating to sermons he delivered in the 1990s.
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, sitting with two other senior judges in the Court of Appeal, rejected Hamza's claim his trial was unfair because of the length of time between the speeches and the case coming to court.
The judges also dismissed a claim that the trial was potentially prejudiced by the "blaze of publicity" surrounding moves to extradite him to the United States.
"There is no reason to believe that the jury were not able to consider and resolve the relevant issues objectively and impartially," Lord Phillips said. "The jury's verdicts appear to us to reflect a rational differentiation between the stronger and weaker counts."
Hamza is wanted on separate terrorism charges in the United States where he has been indicted on 11 counts, including having a role in a 1998 kidnap in Yemen and trying to help al Qaeda set up a "terrorist training camp" in Oregon.

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