Abu Hamza al Masri, the radical cleric who was convicted in May for a 1998 hostage plot in Yemen along with plans to create a terrorist training camp within the United States, has been sentenced to life in prison.
Al Masir’s lawyers attempted to convince U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan federal court that housing the convicted cleric in Colorado’s Supermax federal prison would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
The 56-year-old, also known as Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, is missing a hand, an eye and suffers from a host of other health problems, The Associated Press reported Friday.
Lawyers for Al Masir also argued that sending him to Supermax would be a violation of agreements made with the United Kingdom during his 2012 extradition. Prosecutors said in court papers that no such guarantees were ever made, AP reported.
Judge Forrest called the cleric’s past actions “barbaric” and “misguided,” BBC reported Friday.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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