Human Rights
Abu Qatada wins Jordan deportation appeal
Radical cleric Abu Qatada has won his appeal against deportation from the UK to Jordan, at the European Court of Human Rights.
But the court said he should not face trial for terrorism on evidence obtained by the torture of others. Home Secretary Theresa May said the European judges' decision was "not the end of the road".
The British government can make a final appeal before the judgement becomes binding in three months' time. If it does not appeal, the cleric will have to be released from detention.
Abu Qatada, whose real name is Omar Othman, is one of the most influential Islamist clerics in Europe, supporting jihadist causes. British judges have described him as "truly dangerous".
He has never faced trial in the UK, but has been detained without charge and had his movements restricted by a control order, a form of house arrest.
The Palestinian-Jordanian preacher has been convicted in his absence of involvement in two major terrorism plots in Jordan.
In the ruling, the Strasbourg court accepted that diplomatic assurances given by Jordan to the UK meant that the cleric would be protected from torture if he were returned.
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