It took the British government eight long years of endless court battles to have hate preacher Abu Hamza finally extradited to America. The US promised not to send him to Guantanamo Bay but when he found out he was going to Supermax, he got nervous.
The Americans have a no-nonsense approach to law enforcement that human rights-obsessed Britain doesn't have and he told the European Court of Human Rights that conditions in Supermax were cruel and amounted to torture. They rejected his claim and all of his appeals to stay in Britain were finally exhausted.
The British gave him a home, housed his large family and supported them all on benefits, yet he called on fellow Muslims to rise up and overthrow their government.
As the British celebrated his departure, the US were delighted that he and three other Al Qaeda suspects were finally in their hands.
Hamza lost both hands and an eye in a landmine explosion during the war against the Russians in Afghanistan and he uses two hooks to perform every-day tasks. As soon as he arrived, the Americans took them away and said they were a security risk. He appeared in court with the stumps of his arms protruding from his jumpsuit.
Breakfast at the Manhattan jail where he is being held consists of powdered egg, tinned tomatoes and toast, rather difficult to eat without hands. He had to suck up his food through a straw because the prison guards weren't prepared to feed him.
Back in Belmarsh prison in England, which houses Britain's most dangerous men, staff and prisoners are often intimidated by Muslim inmates who make up one in five prisoners. Islamic Extremists are at the top of the pecking order and are widely feared and actually recruit new members in the prison yard. Even though Hamza was in a maximum security cell, he was still able to communicate with others and even delivered sermons by banging on the pipes. There are no pipes to bang in Supermax.
Hamza's lawyer has been trying to drum up sympathy for his client who has diabetes, psoriasis and high blood pressure. He used that hackneyed phrase we have come to hate when scum like Hamza must be treated with kindness - "The test of a civilized society is how it treats people it despises."
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