Bosnia and Herzegovina must pay €9,000 to Imad al-Husin, better known as Abu Hamza, for violating the European Convention on Human Rights by keeping him locked up, said by the European Court of Human Rights, on Tuesday.

The Court found that his rights had been violated by the detention in which lasted from August 2014 to September 2016, pursuant to Article 5, paragraph 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The ruling also said that Article 5, paragraph 1, was not violated by his detention in the period from July 2012 to March 2013, nor from March to August 2014.

In February 2016 Abu Hamza was released on probation, with a ban of leaving the place of residence and obliged him to regularly report to the police.

During the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, Abu Hamza fought on the side of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He was arrested on October 5, 2008, in an operation in which several security agencies took part, on the grounds of posing a threat to national security.

After the September 11 attack on the US, the Bosnian authorities began deporting former Middle Eastern fighters who fought in the Bosnian war. Some of them ended up in the Guantanamo Camp in Cuba, while others were locked up in the immigration centre in East Sarajevo.

Abu Hamza, who is originally from Syria, and who came to Bosnia during the 1980s, stayed behind bars during all these years without committing any crime and contrary to all the laws and international conventions ratified by Bosnia.

After 38 countries refused Bosnia's requests to deport him to a third country, Abu Hamza was released from custody.