Why has it taken Britain eight years to extradite Abu Hamza?

Putting the case in perspective

Mr. Knowles says that while Hamza’s case is long, there have been longer extradition cases, including a French request that took 10 years.

“This case has taken a long time because the [ECHR] is very under resourced and has a backlog of cases, so by the time you go there you are building in up to a three-, four-year delay,” he says, adding that the extradition proceedings under English law also made the case a lengthy one.

Knowles also says that Hamza's eight-year saga is not a sign that Britain's extradition system is too weighted in favor of individuals fighting against their removal.  It's just the opposite, he says.

“The law is overwhelmingly in favor of the government seeking extradition. Very little has to be shown for the US to seek extradition, and in fact the controversy recently has been about whether it has been too easy for the US to get people from here as compared with if the UK was asking the US, where the hurdle is much higher.”

The sheer complexity of the Hamza case was also an issue.

The case's outcome is one that may have a lasting legacy in Europe.

The precedent set by the ECHR's ruling may turn out to be a green light across Europe for future extraditions to US supermax prisons, as the court officially has jurisdiction over 47 states across the continent (though Russia often ignores its rulings). The ruling is not apt to affect extradition to the US in death penalty cases, as Europe's opposition to capital punishment remains entrenched.

Symbolic importance

If Hamza's last-ditch effort fails, extradition is likely to quickly follow for a figure who has been one of the most striking encapsulations of what many Britons regard as the face of Al Qaeda inspired extremism.

Security experts emphasize the symbolic importance of the case of the hook-handed, one-eyed radical cleric, who took charge of London’s Finsbury Park Mosque in the 1990s and used it as a base to persuade young Muslims to take up the cause of holy war.

“In terms of his strategic relevance, he is no longer an active figure in terms of jihadi terrorism in general but he somehow represents the kind of threat that the UK has been facing since 2001,” says Tina Soria, an analyst specializing in counter-terrorism and Security and London’s Royal United Services Institute think-tank.

“His extradition would mark the end of one very important chapter in counter-terrorist narrative in the UK and how effective it has been in, hopefully, disrupting terrorist activities.”

“He represented a significant player in terms of radicalization, and the kind of threat that the UK was facing up until, maybe, 2007 and 2008 but we have seen an evolution in the terrorist threat and we of course now that kind of ideological message is equally circulating online.”

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