Hate preacher Abu Hamza has urged US courts to grant his freedom so he can return to the UK, eight years after he was extradited on terrorism charges.
The hook-handed 65-year-old has applied to end his life sentence in the US immediately so he can make his return.
Hamza wishes to be sent back on compassionate grounds after submitting hundreds of pages of evidence to support his application.
In documents submitted today, his lawyers ‘ask the court to modify Mr Mostafa’s (Hamza’s) sentence to time-served plus the imposition of a five-year term of supervised release’, The Mirror reports.
Across 76 pages, they detail how Hamza should be freed from Colorado’s supermax prison ADX Florence where he is in solitary confinement.
Hamza wishes to be sent back on compassionate grounds after submitting hundreds of pages of evidence to support his application (File Photo)
Across 76 pages, Hamza’s laywers detail how he should be freed from Colorado ‘s supermax prison ADX Florence where he is in solitary confinement (File Photo)
They highlight the grim conditions he has endured, with his lawyers accusing wardens of ‘using the existence of the prostheses as an excuse not to provide the necessary accommodations and assistance it promised the extradition courts’.
They say his false arms harnesses ‘are being held together by shoestring’. His legal team states he was first kept in ‘Cell 300’, which is ‘a modified large storeroom’.
‘While the cell has two windows, one is blocked by the shower that was installed, and the other is an interior window,’ his appeal states.
‘Mr Mostafa had no natural light. The other cell in which Mr Mostafa has been confined does not have a proper toilet for his disabilities, nor a shower or sink with hands-free access to water, which he also requires.’
In Cell 300, prison staff welded sharp round metal discs to the faucets, ‘to make it easy’ for him, but ‘the discs cut into his stumps and caused bleeding’, the appeal states, according to the newspaper.
His feet are in such a poor state of repair that he suffers from ‘frequent bleeding in his feet from sharp or overgrown toenails’, it continues, adding that he has to ‘spend his entire day, every day, in solitary confinement without assistance from anyone’.
The legal papers also note: ‘As a result of the lack of accommodations and care, Mr Mostafa has lost almost all of his teeth, suffers from multiple infections, and has consistently been without the medical care considered reasonable to any civilised society.’
Hamza’s family has written letters to the Southern Court in New York, where he was sentenced in 2015 to life in prison for terrorism offences, portraying him as a caring father.
Abu Hamza addressing devotees at the ‘Rally for Islam’ at Trafalgar Square in central London, 25 August 2002
Colorado ‘s supermax prison ADX Florence
His son, Imran Mostafa Kamel, wrote: ‘I am in desperate need of his presence, love, and unwavering support. To witness his reunion with our precious grandchildren and to enjoy quality time together as a family would be a dream come true.
‘I firmly believe that his return is not just a personal desire but a necessary step towards healing and rebuilding what we have lost during these unbearable years.’
Hamza’s wife, Najat Chaffe, said: ‘Our family has been deeply distressed by his absence, as he has left an irreplaceable void that no one can fill.
‘The yearning to have him back in our lives has only intensified over time, and his grandchildren, myself, and our children have missed him dearly. As his devoted wife, I have spent countless years alone, shouldering the immense responsibility of raising our children and providing for their day-to-day needs.
‘The toll it has taken on me, both mentally and physically, has been overwhelming.
‘My heart longs for the support and companionship Mr Mostafa would offer during my difficult moments. It is now time for him to come back home to his family, where he truly belongs.’
Hamza was convicted in 2015 in New York after being extradited from Britain on US terrorism charges over his role in the 1998 kidnapping in Yemen of 16 foreign tourists, of whom four were killed, and of conspiring to set up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, in 1999.
Abu Hamza al-Masri, as he arrives with a masked bodyguard, right, to conduct Friday prayers in the street outside the closed Finsbury Park Mosque in London
He was also accused of sending a disciple to fight with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan in 2000 and providing support for the Taliban.
He was sentenced to life in prison and told by the judge that he would die behind bars.
Hamza’s appeal documents argue that he has not accessed the recreation yard for two years due to his condition and is awoken ‘every 30 minutes by the opening and closing of a gate and the frequent use of a flashlight’.
His lawyers argue British courts allowed his 2012 extradition to the US only because they had been given assurances he would be held in humane conditions.
They say a large number of promises have been broken by the US Bureau of Prisons.
His legal team note that Hamza has been severed from his family while in prison in the US and ‘has not been permitted to speak to, or communicate with, any of his sons or his stepson.’
The appeal continues: ‘Besides legal visits, the only people permitted to visit Mr Mostafa are his wife and his daughter; neither travel alone and thus none have been able to visit him even once since his transfer to BOP custody.’
They say it takes six months to get a response to letters posted to his family.
Abu Hamza addresses the media outside the Finsbury Park Mosque in London on September 11, 2002
The terrorist’s bid for compassionate release was first raised three years ago but was held up by another ongoing appeal claiming that his trial and appeal lawyers gave him ‘ineffective assistance’.
At his sentencing in New York the judge branded his actions as ‘barbaric, misguided and wrong’. She said he was not remorseful and argued that if at ‘any time he is released, the world will not be safe’.
An attempt to appeal over his extradition to the US had failed when the European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2012 that ‘conditions at ADX would not amount to ill-treatment’.
It said: ‘Having fully considered all the evidence from both parties, including specifically prepared statements by officials at ADX Florence as well as letters provided by the US Department of Justice, the court held that conditions at ADX would not amount to ill-treatment.
‘As concerned ADX’s restrictive conditions and lack of human contact, the court found that, if the applicants were convicted as charged, the US authorities would be justified in considering them a significant security risk and in imposing strict limitations on their ability to communicate with the outside world.’