McKinnon extradition case to be examined by MPs

[David Guyatt]

I remain livid that the former Labour Grubbingment was so weak-kneed and compliant that it signed into law the completely imbalanced UK-USA Extradition Treaty where the US can demand UK citizens to be extradited to the US to stand trial, without presenting evidence in support of allegations - whereas there is no similar reciprocal arrangement --- the US will not allow US citizens to be extradited to the UK without evidence being presented and assessed.

Whether or not the ConLib Grubbingment will change this madness remains to be seen - but one can hope.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11866575

30 November 2010 Last updated at 10:31

McKinnon extradition case to be examined by MPs

Gary McKinnon has been fighting extradition to the US for several years
Continue reading the main story

The mother of Gary McKinnon is to give evidence to MPs looking into the UK's extradition laws.

Janis Sharp, whose son faces extradition to the US for computer hacking offences, will appear before the home affairs committee.

A High Court decision on whether Mr McKinnon's extradition could go ahead was adjourned in May and ministers have announced a review of existing rules.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg have both expressed concerns about the case.

And it has emerged in one of the Wikileaks US diplomatic cables, published in The Guardian, that ex-PM Gordon Brown was rebuffed in his suggestion of a deal in which Mr McKinnon pleaded guilty in return for a guarantee that he served his sentence in the UK.

Mr McKinnon - who has Asperger's syndrome - faces up to 60 years in jail if he is convicted in the US.

Campaigners say existing extradition rules are biased against the UK and are being used for offences they were not intended to cover.

The review, being carried out by Sir Scott Baker, is examining whether the 2003 extradition treaty is "unbalanced" and what discretion the home secretary should have to intervene in individual cases.

Glasgow-born Mr McKinnon is accused of hacking into US military computer systems in 2001 and 2002, altering and deleting files in the process.

He does not deny hacking into systems but insists he was seeking evidence of UFOs.

Home Secretary Theresa May agreed to an adjournment of a High Court decision on whether his extradition could go ahead.

Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs committee, said the fact ministers had made no decision about his case since then "highlighted the importance" of Parliament looking at the issue of the UK's arrangements with the US and its extradition rules in general.

Post 9/11 Treaty

Other witnesses giving evidence on Tuesday include former Home Secretary David Blunkett, who signed the treaty, and Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil liberties organisation Liberty.

The last Labour government insisted there was no evidence to suggest an "imbalance" in the extradition rules or the tests applied and Mr Blunkett has said that sensible discussions with the UK's partners could resolve "any irritants quite speedily".

But critics of the US/UK treaty, agreed between Washington and London in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks of 2001, say it is easier to extradite people from the UK than the US.

They say the arrangement is not reciprocal because the US does not need to present evidence to a British court to request extradition, while the UK still needs to present evidence to an American court.

While originally designed to make it easier to bring terrorist suspects to justice, campaigners say the treaty is being used to seek extradition for fraud and drug offences.

Civil liberties groups say no British citizen should be sent for trial in a foreign country without due process and if they could be tried at home.

Ministers have said the current extradition arrangements are causing controversy and that the review will ensure they work "efficiently and in the interests of justice".

Current extradition arrangements will continue until the review - which is also looking at the application of the European arrest warrant - is completed.

The European arrest warrant means EU members can ask for fast-track extradition of an individual without providing prima-facie evidence to the courts, usually as long as the offence is a crime in both countries and carries a prison sentence of more than one year.

But Fair Trials International has said more than 1,000 people have been detained and extradited under what it says is a "no-questions-asked" system.

[Ed Jewett]

Hacking Star Fleet Command Records

Catherine, News & Commentary on February 20, 2012 at 12:02 pm

From Wikipedia
Gary McKinnon (born 10 February 1966) is a Scottishsystems administrator and hacker who has been accused of what one U.S. prosecutor claims is the "biggest military computer hack of all time," although McKinnon himself states that he was merely looking for evidence of free energy suppression and a cover-up of UFO activity and other technologies potentially useful to the public. After a series of legal proceedings in England, McKinnon is currently fighting extradition to the United States .
Continue reading the article . . .
Related reading:
Hacker Feels US Navy Has Spaceships, Crews In Space
rense.com (15 July 05)
UFO Pentagon Hacker Tells What He Found
rense.com (22 June 06)
Poems for Gary McKinnon Handed in to No. 10 Downing Street
Free Gary McKinnon (8 Feb 12)

---

[Magda Hassan]

Gary McKinnon extradition to US blocked by Theresa May

Continue reading the main story
British computer hacker Gary McKinnon will not be extradited to the US, Home Secretary Theresa May has announced.
Mr McKinnon, 46, who admits accessing US government computers but claims he was looking for evidence of UFOs, has been fighting extradition since 2002.
The home secretary told MPs there was no doubt Mr McKinnon was "seriously ill" and the extradition warrant against him should be withdrawn.
Mrs May said the sole issue she had to consider was his human rights.
She said it was now for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, to decide whether he should face trial in the UK.
Mrs May said: "After careful consideration of all of the relevant material I have concluded that Mr McKinnon's extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr McKinnon's human rights. I have therefore withdrawn the extradition order against Mr McKinnon."
Mrs May also said measures would be taken to enable a UK court to decide whether a person should stand trial in the UK or abroad - a so-called forum bar.
It would be designed to ensure extradition cases did not fall foul of "delays and satellite litigation", she said.
Continue reading the main stor
Mr McKinnon, from Wood Green, north London,who has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, faced 60 years in jail if convicted in the US.
Mr McKinnon's mother Janis Sharp was delighted with the decision, saying: "Thank you Theresa May from the bottom of my heart - I always knew you had the strength and courage to do the right thing."
His MP, David Burrowes, who had threatened to resign as a parliamentary aide if Mr McKinnon was extradited, welcomed the decision.
Mr Burrowes tweeted: "Compassion and pre-election promises delivered today."
BBC legal correspondent Clive Coleman said it was a dramatic decision - the first time a home secretary had stepped in to block an extradition under the current treaty with the US.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty, said: "This is a great day for rights, freedoms and justice in the United Kingdom.
"The home secretary has spared this vulnerable man the cruelty of being sent to the US and accepted Liberty's long-standing argument for change to our rotten extradition laws."
Mark Lever, chief executive of the National Autistic Society, said he was "delighted that the years of waiting are finally over for Gary and his family".
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "At last justice and the well-being of Mr McKinnon have prevailed. I have long supported Gary's right to be tried here in the UK.

They insisted his hacking was "intentional and calculated to influence and affect the US government by intimidation and coercion".US authorities have described the Glasgow-born hacker's actions as the "biggest military computer hack of all time" and have demanded he face justice in America.
The Americans said his actions caused $800,000 (£487,000) worth of damage to military computer systems.
Mr McKinnon has previously lost appeals in the High Court and the House of Lords against his extradition, but two years ago a High Court judge ruled Mr McKinnon would be at risk of suicide if sent away.
Earlier this year Mrs May put the decision on hold to allow Home Office appointed psychiatrists to conduct an assessment.
They also concluded that Mr McKinnon would be likely to take his own life if he was sent to face trial in the US.
Mr McKinnon was arrested in 2002 and again in 2005 before an order for his extradition was made in July 2006 under the 2003 Extradition Act.
Before Mrs May's announcement, Ms Sharp said her son had lived a "zombified life" for the past decade, which had "destroyed him".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19957138

[Peter Lemkin]

A victory! America will be furious and will take revenge....don't expect him to live long in the UK [for example]. I only hope this starts a precedent. Why, then was Assange so badly treated?! [though, granted, he wasn't British].