Morning:
3°c
Hate-preacher Hamza's 'YouTube rant from prison'
Danny Brierley24.09.08
A video of hardline Islamic preacher Abu Hamza, which was said to have been made in Belmarsh Prison, has appeared on YouTube.
A photograph of the radical cleric is displayed with an announcement that it is by "Sheik Abu Hamza Al Masri from Belmarsh Prison in Britain".
During the three-and-a-half minute clip he delivers nine verses of poetry in Arabic. He praises "the spirit of the martyr" and asks for jihad fighters to be given God's mercy.
Hamza, 49, is serving seven years for spreading racial hatred and inciting the murder of " nonbelievers". The hook-handed cleric preached at Finsbury Park Mosque and was convicted of 11 of the 15 charges he faced. He was found guilty of having audio and video tapes intended to encourage racial hatred and having a document for terror purposes. Conservative MP Patrick Mercer has called for a Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to investigate the alleged Belmarsh video. He said: "How is it this poisonous man seems able to communicate at will with the outside world from within Britain's most secure prison?" A Prison Service spokesman said: "There is no proof this recording was made by Hamza and no evidence it was made in prison."
Neil Doyle, an expert on cyber-terrorism, said: "I have spent hours listening to Hamza recordings. I am 1,000 per cent sure it is him."
Reader views (11)
Sorry - the problem IS the prison service. Like the policemen who won't police, the nurses who won't nurse and the teachers who can't teach, the warders who prefer to 'get along' with their charges rather than to control them are making a mockery of the penal system. They should be sent on all expenses paid trips to carefully selected US jails to get some ideas about how to control convicts. This sort of thing might then not happen, particularly if the management of the prison service lived up to its responsibilities. Perhaps there are no bad prison officers just bad senior prison officers.
- Peter Haldane, London
Why in the 21st century do we tolerate a religion that promotes death and slaughter to all that dont believe the same as they do ? Any religion that bases its belief on intolerence should be banned. If as I keep hearing that Islam is a religion of peace do the moderates not clamp down on these hate mongers. If they cannot then these mosques should be torn down and the same intolerence shown to them. Just what type of god wants his followers to blow themselves and other innocent people up ?
- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Samui Thailand
Hamza, and all his type should be silenced with the Electric Chair.
- Vince London, West London
Send him home with his family it will save us a fortune.
- Clive Wheeler, HOVE. SUSSEX
The problem here i think is YouTube, not the prison service - have any of you looked at the "race Hate" and "Holocaust Denial" on this site?
If it were policed properly this sort of thing would not happen.
I have a friend - now an ex friend - who has been radicalized by YouTube and before you all assume hes a Muslim .... Wrong! hes an Orthodox Christian.
Its YouTube that gives "Hate Mongers" the "Oxygen" of publicity.
- Mike, London
Hamza should have been permanently silenced by a spook long-ago.
- Sean, London, United Kingdom of Political-Correctness
Why is he so protected? Maybe send the scumbag to Guantanamo Bay where they will treat him as such.
- Charlie, London
He should be sent straight home the minute he gets out of jail.. but no doubt it is against his human rights blah blah blah. Ridiculous. These hateful people shouldn't be here if they hate Westeners so much.
- Louise, London
Why has a prisoner got access to equipment to make youtube videos, this is ridiculous, its not really prison when they have a better lifestyle then some of the law abiding citizens struggling to make ends meat
- Jp, London
I do hope this controversy doesn't stop Mr Hamza from collecting his Incapacity Benefit, Unemployment Benefit, Housing Benefit, Free Food Vouchers, Child allowance for his three hundred children and so forth.
And of course it is in no way hypocritical of him to accept money from us Kuffars when he A/ Hates and despises us all and B/has so very much cash of his own floating about.
Still look on the bright side. We must keep valuable citizens like Mr Hamza here in the UK rather than extradite him to what ever other country is stupid enough to want him.
- Ethan, UK
This pathetic government cannot protect society from this vermin, even when he is in behind bars.
Vote right, vote right.
- Frank, Home Counties, England.
