European court orders UK to pay convicted terrorist £13,000 over ‘human rights violations’
Five extremists tried to blow up part of London's public transport system just two weeks after 7/7
A CONVICTED terrorist will receive more than £13,000 from the Government because his human rights were “violated” during police interviews over a plot to attack London.
After a seven-year court battle the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled £13,600 of Ismail Abdurahman’s legal costs must be paid.
He hid one of the failed bombers who tried to launch a second round of atrocities on July 21, 2005 for three days.
During the nationwide manhunt for the terrorists an innocent man – Jean Charles de Menezes – was killed.
ECHR judges found Abdurahman’s rights to a fair trial and legal assistance had been breached by the Metropolitan Police.
He was initially questioned as a witness and the panel of 17 judges found officers did not follow necessary procedure when he became a suspect.
The court’s judgement said: “The Government [has not] demonstrated compelling reasons for restricting his access to legal advice and failing to inform him of his right to remain silent.
“It was significant that there was no basis in domestic law for the police to choose not to caution Mr Abdurahman at the point at which he had started to incriminate himself.”
reports the ECHR cut Abdurahman’s award from the £36,000 his lawyers had asked for.
And they did not find he had been wrongly convicted following the terror plot.
The verdict was agreed by 11 votes to six after lengthy consideration by judges from countries including Britain, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Macedonia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
Abdurahman was jailed for eight years for hiding Hussein Osman – one of five terrorists who tried to bomb London transport network on July 21, 2005.
Just two weeks after the 7/7 bombings they made devices using hydrogen peroxide and shrapnel that failed to explode.
The extremist fled Shepherd’s Bush, Warren Street and Oval Tube stations, as well as a bus in Shoreditch.
A fifth terrorist dumped his bomb without trying to blow it up.
Hussain, who has been jailed for life, hid with Abdurahman for three days after the attempted bombings.
During the hunt for him the innocent man Jean Charles de Menezes was killed at Stockwell Tube station when armed police mistook him for Hussain.
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A lawyer had told Abdurahman he had the right to challenge the prosecution’s use of a statement he made without legal advice but instead of retracting it he used it as the basis of his defence at trial.
But the ECHR found the outcome may have been “irretrievably prejudiced by the decision not to caution him and to restrict his access to legal advice”.
A spokesman said: “The Court said that great weight had to be attached to the nature of the offences in Mr Abdurahman’s case.”
“It emphasised that the threat posed by terrorism could only be neutralised by the effective investigation, prosecution and punishment of all those involved in terrorism.”
In the same hearing, the ECHR’s Grand Chamber threw out appeals by three other men convicted over the terror plot.
Muktar Ibrahim, Ramzi Mohammed and Yassin Omar – who were all jailed for life for conspiracy to murder – had all launched claims that their human rights were breached.
Making its final ruling over the case lodged in October 2008, the ECHR ruled by 15 votes to two that Scotland Yard detectives had not violated the men’s right to a fair trial - Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
All three men were arrested in the wake of the failed bombings and questioned in urgent “safety interviews” without legal advice to establish whether there was any remaining risk to the British public.
The ECHR found the circumstances created an “urgent need to avert serious adverse consequences for the life and physical integrity of the public, namely further suicide attacks” and this was more critical than their right to legal advice.
Ibrahim, Mohammed and Omar first denied knowing about the attempted bombings of July 21 but later admitted they were involved.
They then claimed the bombs had been a hoax and were never intended to explode.
But the ECHR said the devices were intended to “maximise injuries” and there was also overwhelming evidence of the convicts’ extremist views and advance planning.
The judge at the men's original trial, Mr Justice Fulford, described the plot as a “viable attempt at mass murder”.
The ECHR is separate from the EU’s European Court of Justice and sits in Strasbourg to hear cases concerning the 47 signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The British courts found that these individuals planned to bring terror to the streets of London just two weeks after 52 people were killed in the July 7 bombings.
“Had their plot been successful, it would have had devastating consequences.
“We are pleased that the Grand Chamber has agreed with the British courts and has rejected the appeal of the three bombers.
“They remain behind bars where they belong.
“But we are disappointed with the Grand Chamber’s decision in relation to Ismail Abdurahman, who was convicted of helping one of the bombers to evade capture.
“Although this does not overturn his conviction for this serious offence, we will now carefully consider the implications of the judgment for our procedures in this type of case.”