Qatada’s deportation comes after the UK and Jordan ratified a treaty ensuring that the Jordanian cleric will face a trial without the use of evidence obtained by torture.
Earlier in May, Abu Qatada’s lawyer previously told a London court that his client will return to Jordan voluntarily if the country’s government ratifies a treaty with Britain that ensures he will receive a fair trial.
According to reports, the 51-year-old will be driven from Belmarsh prison in southeast London to RAF Northolt around midnight tonight, without his family travelling with him.
Abu Qatada won an appeal against his deportation to Jordan in November last year after the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) announced the cleric would not get a fair trial in Jordan because evidence obtained via torture could be used against him.
Home Secretary Theresa May called the ruling “deeply unsatisfactory” and told MPs in the House of Commons that she will contest it.
Britain’s justice system has accused Qatada of being linked to al-Qaeda and threatening the country’s national security. No charges, however, have been pressed against the Muslim cleric yet.