AMMAN: Islamist cleric Abu Qatada threatened yesterday to boycott his retrial in Jordan on terror charges, demanding that the court respect a deal that led to his deportation from Britain.
“I asked you at the last hearing (January 16) to publicly declare your commitment to the agreement signed by Jordan. If you do not do that, I will boycott the trial and I will not deal with the court,” Abu Qatada told judge Ahmad Qatarneh, who led a panel of three civilian judges at the military state security court.
Qatarneh said, without elaborating, that “the court is committed to the agreement” with Britain.
Abu Qatada was condemned to death in absentia in 1999 for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks, including on the American school in Amman. The sentence was immediately commuted to life imprisonment with hard labour.
In 2000, he was sentenced in absentia to 15 years for plotting to attack tourists in Jordan.
Abu Qatada has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Britain expelled him last summer after Amman and London ratified a treaty guaranteeing that evidence obtained by torture would not be used in his retrial and that the proceedings would be transparent.
After his deportation, Abu Qatada was granted a retrial in line with Jordanian law.
AFP
