European Court Blocks Extradition Of Terror Suspect Babar Ahmad

The European Court of Human Rights has temporarily blocked the extradition of a British terror suspect to Connecticut. 

Babar Ahmad is accused of using a Connecticut-based Internet Service Provider to create and run websites that raised money for terrorists. He’s been held in British prisons and has been fighting extradition to the US since his arrest in 2004.

In its ruling, the European Court raised concerns that Ahmad could be held in an American super-max prison for the rest of his life. The Court said it needed time to decide whether that would violate Europe’s human rights charter. The Court also blocked the extradition of three other terror suspects.

In a statement, Spokesman Dean Boyd, of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice says all the defendants remain charged in the United States and the Department seeks to prosecute them here.

For WNPR, I'm Diane Orson.