By John Leyden for The Register. This story has
been reproduced with permission.
Lord Justice Stanley Burnton and Mr Justice Wilkie dismissed
McKinnon's claims for judicial review on Friday ruling that
extradition was "a lawful and proportionate response to his
offending".
The ruling follows review hearings by the judges on whether
successive Home Secretaries acted properly in disregarding
McKinnon's recent diagnosis with a mild form of autism in allowing
extradition proceedings to continue and, separately, the decision
not to prosecute McKinnon in the UK, despite his offer of a signed
confession to hacking offences in the UK.
Karen Todner of Kaim Todner, McKinnon's solicitors, reacted with
disappointment to the decision but vowed to fight on.
"The extradition treaty was brought in to facilitate the
extradition of terrorists and it must be clear to anyone following
the case that Gary McKinnon is no terrorist," she said.
"The decision to extradite Gary was made by a Secretary of
State, Jacqui Smith, who accepts she was not up to the job. David
Blunkett, who led us into the flawed Extradition Act now wishes he
had not and that Gary was prosecuted in the UK."
Todner fears for McKinnon's mental health if he is extradited to
face trial and likely imprisonment in the US.
"Why aren't they stopping the extradition of a man who is
clearly vulnerable and who on accepted evidence suffers from
Asperger's? Gary is clearly someone who is not equipped to deal
with the American penal system and there is clear evidence he will
suffer a mental breakdown if extradited."
McKinnon's four-year campaign against extradition has featured
failed appeals to the House of Lords and the European Court of
Human Rights that focused on issues such as arm-twisting during
early plea bargaining negotiations. His diagnosis with a mild form
of autism opened up fresh avenues of appeal.
The decision by two senior judges on Friday that health grounds
were insufficient to block McKinnon's extradition is a severe and
perhaps fatal blow to McKinnon's long-running campaign.
The Ex-Files
McKinnon was first arrested in 2002. He has never denied
accusations that he hacked into 97 computer systems run by US Army,
US Navy, US Air Force, Department of Defense and NASA. McKinnon has
repeatedly said he only broke into poorly secured systems to hunt
for supposed evidence of knowledge about anti-gravity propulsion
systems and alien technology harvested from crashed UFOs that was
being hidden from the public by the US military.
US prosecutors allege that McKinnon (whose hacker handle was
Solo) caused $700K in damages and was responsible for crippling
systems responsible for the tracking the location of naval ships
months after the 9/11 attacks. McKinnon denies these claims of
causing damage, repeatedly describing himself as a "bumbling
computer nerd" rather than a cyberterrorist.
US appeal
Lawyers for the former sys admin turned UFO military hacker are
continuing to fight against his extradition despite Friday's
setback. Todner added that she had sent an appeal - signed by a
cross-bench group of 40 MPs - asking for US President Barack Obama
to intervene.
"In the NatWest Three case the Attorney General flew to America
to obtain assurances of bail from them - no such action has taken
place for Gary, nor has he been promised repatriation immediately
upon sentence," she said.
"I will lodge an appeal against this decision in the next 28
days and, if we can, will take the case to the Supreme Court if
needs be, back to Europe. Ian Norris [one of the NatWest Three] has
obtained leave to appeal to the Supreme Court on judicial grounds
and we hope to join that appeal."
McKinnon's fight against extradition has been accompanied by an
energetic media campaign, drawing in autisim experts and
high-profile celebrities such as Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, as
well as politicians and the media. The Daily Mail recently began a
high profile campaign that further publicised McKinnon's plight and
the perceived injustice of the one-sided extradition treaty between
the US and UK.
An opposition motion calling for a review of this extradition
treaty was defeated in Parliament earlier this month.
During the debate Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, argued he
had no power to block McKinnon's extradition.
Janis Sharp, McKinnon's mother, who has spearheaded the
campaign, told reporters outside court that she feared she would
never see her son again if he is extradited.
© The Register
2009
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