Britain’s efforts to deport terrorist suspects including the radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada were dealt a serious blow by the European Court of Human Rights yesterday.

In a unanimous decision, the court in Strasbourg ruled against an attempt by Italy to return a Tunisian to his home country. The Italian authorities had sought to have Nassim Saadi deported on the ground that he had played an “active role” in an organisation providing support to fundamentalist Islamist cells in Italy and abroad.

The 17 judges decided that sending Saadi back would violate the European Convention on Human Rights because he faced a real risk of torture or inhumane treatment. Britain, which is seeking to send Abu Qatada to Jordan, had intervened in the case in the hope that the court would back the return of suspects regardless of their home country’s human rights record.

Ministers argued that the right of the British public to be protected against terrorism should be balanced against suspects’ right not to be illtreated on their return home. But the court rejected the Government’s argument and ruled that the protection against torture is absolute.

‘Items sent as earthquake aid’

Hidden among clothing were goods selected and purchased to support the activities of terrorists, a court was told

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The judgment, from which there is no appeal, binds all countries of the Council of Europe, including Britain.

It also threw into question another part of the Government’s strategy for trying to remove foreign terrorist suspects. Ministers have sought assurances from several North African and Middle Eastern countries that deportees will not be subject to torture or inhumane treatment.

But the ruling said that even if such assurances were given, the European Court of Human Rights still had an obligation to examine whether they provided a sufficient guarantee against the risk of inhumane treatment.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “The Government is disappointed at the ruling by the European Court. We will consider the judgment.”

Britain has signed memorandums of understanding with “no torture, no ill-treatment” pledges with Jordan, Libya and Lebanon and has a separate arrangement with Algeria.

This strategy is intended to help the Government to deport at least 30 foreign terrorist suspects on national security grounds to countries with poor human rights records. It has been trying to deport them since 2005. Abu Qatada lost a landmark legal fight a year ago when judges ruled that he would face “no real risk of persecution” if he were sent back to Jordan.

He is challenging the ruling in the Court of Appeal and is expected to go to the European Court of Human Rights, which yesterday made clear that it would examine any assurances given in the memorandum of understanding signed by Jordan.

Eric Metcalfe, the director of human rights policy for the Justice group, said: “We welcome the court’s judgment upholding the fundamental principle that nobody should be exposed to torture.”

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