British hacker to be extradited

[mrsquirrel]

Gary McKinnon: British hacker to be extradited

Gary McKinnon, the British hacker who infiltrated American military websites searching for proof of alien life, has lost his High Court appeal against extradition to the US.



Published: 10:05AM BST 31 Jul 2009






Whether or not Mr McKinnon can appeal further will be decided at a later date.
Lord Justice Burnton said it was a matter that should be dealt with "as expeditiously as possible", probably in September.
Lawyers for Mr McKinnon, 43, who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, had challenged decisions by successive Home Secretaries which permitted the extradition to go ahead.
Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), refused to sanction a trial in this country which would effectively block the extradition.
Mr McKinnon's legal team had also fought to overturn that decision.
However, judges at the High Court in London refused to accept his challenge against extradition.
Mr McKinnon, from Wood Green, north London, and his supporters fear his medical condition, coupled with the stress of extradition and tough American prison conditions, could result in psychosis and suicide.
He is also convinced he will not get a fair trial in the United States.
"There is no way I would get a jury of my peers in America," he said on BBC Radio 5 Live. "I would be tried in Virginia, and a lot of people in Virginia work for defence contractors. I'm accused of damaging defence computers."
Mr McKinnon's mother had said she feared she might never see her son again.
"If you are talking about a 60-year sentence, if he did 30 years I would never see him again because I'd be dead," she said.
She said Asperger's sufferers "don't understand many social rules, they don't understand the consequences of their actions".
Ms Sharp added: "Gary wouldn't be thinking of the consequences, he was thinking there's suppressed information here about UFO technology - he was obsessed with it."
Mr McKinnon had been prepared to plead guilty to computer hacking offences to avoid extradition.
But former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith decided last October to order his removal following a request from the US prosecuting authorities.
The current Home Secretary Alan Johnson insisted he had no power to demand the trial take place in the UK.
The US authorities claim Mr McKinnon was responsible for the "biggest military hack of all time", involving 97 government computers belonging to organisations including the US Navy and Nasa.
Mr McKinnon has admitted breaking into the system in 2001-2 during a period of heightened security in the wake of the September 11 2001 attacks. But he claims he was looking for evidence of extraterrestrial life.
The US government alleges his conduct was intentional and calculated to influence and affect it by "intimidation and coercion". It says the cost of repair totalled more than 700,000 US dollars (£436,000).
The campaigners who sought to block his extradition said he acted through "naïvety" as a result of Asperger's – a form of autism which leads to obsessive behaviour – and should not be considered a criminal.
At a recent hearing, Edward Fitzgerald QC accused the Government of reaching a "flawed" decision in the light of the uncontradicted medical evidence of the severe mental suffering that extradition would cause.
The QC described Mr McKinnon as "an eccentric person who has passionate views about UFOs".
Extradition was "unnecessary, avoidable and disproportionate" as Mr McKinnon could be prosecuted in the UK.
Mr Starmer refused to order a UK trial, saying the bulk of the evidence was located in the US and Mr McKinnon's actions were directed against the US military infrastructure.
He also argued there was a large number of witnesses in the US, along with the real evidence – apart from Mr McKinnon's computer. Gathering the evidence for prosecution in the UK would be an immense task, and certain material from the US might be considered "sensitive" by the US authorities.
Previously Mr McKinnon's case against extradition has been rejected on other grounds by a district judge, the High Court and then, in July last year, the House of Lords. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg also refused to intervene.
He was caught as he tried to download a grainy black and white photograph which he believed was an alien spacecraft from a Nasa computer housed in the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.
He was easily traced by the authorities because he used his own email address.
He has always said he had no malicious intent but was looking for classified documents on UFOs which he believed the US authorities had suppressed.
He has signed a statement accepting his hacking constituted an offence under the UK's Computer Misuse Act 1990.
A large campaign involving family, politicians and celebrities fought a long battle against extradition.
The case has also once more brought into focus the perceived inequality of laws which enable the US to extradite UK citizens with comparative ease, while it is much harder for the UK authorities to secure the removal of wanted American citizens to these shores.

Utter bullshit.

Kid is going to get banged up for years.

I hope the tin foil hats all go out and protest outside the embassy and call aliens down on it.

[Michael]

Actually, I think they just want to find out how he did it, the maybe even offer him a job as 'consultant'.

[baldrick]

^ he logged in to windows machines with admin and a blank password.

[mrsquirrel]

^yup

And the Yanks lost face and now need a scapegoat so the rest of Americania doesn't think it just lets any old limey hack their systems

[Jools]

Let an American pull this stunt on M15 and see what howls ensue from the ultra-nationalists on this forum. Dirty Dog and Marmite would be calling for long prison sentences with Gary Glitter as a cellmate.

[mrsquirrel]

Let an American pull this stunt on M15 and see what howls ensue from the ultra-nationalists on this forum. Dirty Dog and Marmite would be calling for long prison sentences with Gary Glitter as a cellmate.

But they can't.

Point being that for the UK to drag some overweight sweating seopo over is like getting a refund from a disease ridden whore.

[Nietzsche]

He picked a bad time to fuck with the US.

It was just after 9/11

I reckon he's smarter than he makes out though & the people behind extraditing him obviously do, too.

[BigRed]

smarter than the septics anyway

[watterinja]

It seems that the UK prefers to suck up to the US rather than protect the 'rights' of its own citizens.

This whole affair is just so incredibly bent, in so many ways.

[britmaveric]

Good news and lad should do time!!! Well done.

[slackula]

Good news and lad should do time!!! Well done.

He probably should do time, but his day in court should be in the UK not the USA. He will get f*cked over in a US court and he knows it.

[Norton]

He probably should do time, but his day in court should be in the UK not the USA.

I don't know if there are international laws in place regarding this but it was a US system he hacked. Does the UK have any jurisdiction to prosecute? If not, he cannot be tried in the UK.

[Dan]

Does the UK have any jurisdiction to prosecute? If not, he cannot be tried in the UK.

He has signed a statement accepting his hacking constituted an offence under the UK's Computer Misuse Act 1990.

Just another example of the British state parting its cheeks for the Americans.

[Fuzzy Bob]

Where's that Guardian reading pinko Chakrabarti or the human rights squad while this is happening. Maybe he's the wrong colour, not an asylum seeker or the wrong religion for them to be bothered.

[crazy dog]

Pity the guy ain't a black cute immigrant, or a blonde bimbo then there would be human rights groups wanting to save him. As it is only the much maligned Daily Mail paper seemed to care. The US should be grateful he was not a terrorist and give him a job as a consultant.

[Dan]

^ & ^^ I was tempted to say "nice try" but it's not, so I won't.

Human rights group Liberty today condemned the High Court decision that Gary McKinnon’s extradition must go ahead. Gary McKinnon, who has Asperger’s syndrome, has been charged with hacking into the US Pentagon and NASA systems between 1999 and 2002, an offence which was committed from his computer at home in London.

Liberty argues that where conduct constituting a crime occurs in the UK then a British court should be allowed to refuse extradition if it is in the interests of justice to do so. Liberty also holds that the requesting country should have to make out the case for extradition in a British court before the request is granted.
Isabella Sankey, Director of Policy for Liberty, said:

“Today’s court decision demonstrates the disgrace that is Britain’s extradition arrangements that allow vulnerable people to be shipped off around the world when they should be tried here at home. Our judges’ hands have been tied by rotten legislation that should now be overhauled by Parliament without delay.

But don't take my word for it: Liberty - Protecting Civil Liberties Promoting Human Rights : 31/07/09 Liberty condemns High Court extradition decision

Anyway, nice to see that you're supportive of the work of Liberty.

[StrontiumDog]

Pity the guy ain't a black cute immigrant, or a blonde bimbo then there would be human rights groups wanting to save him. As it is only the much maligned Daily Mail paper seemed to care. The US should be grateful he was not a terrorist and give him a job as a consultant.

Ok, but he did break the law....and it was a bloody silly thing to do...I mean, come on...did he really believe he'd get away with this? How dumb??????

The Daily Mail is much maligned for a reason...

[crazy dog]

The Daily Mail is much maligned for a reason...

Probably because it is not full of sex and sport and highlights the disastrous immigration/fake asylum seekers policy in the UK, and it's increasingly unaffordable social and economic results.

[Nietzsche]

The Daily Mail is much maligned

A good newspaper in an evil society seems the greatest villan of all.

[Dan]

^ Right adjectives with the wrong nouns.

[mrsquirrel]

He broke UK laws by hacking. He should be in court in the UK. Not in a US court with a US jury being tried by US judges.

Might as well send the fucker to Guatanamo and be done with it.

[mad_dog]

" laws which enable the US to extradite UK citizens with comparative ease" Another example of post WW2 "special poodle relationship"Damaging the UK, its citizens and standing in the world. Amnesty International has condemned the US prison system as rife with sadisitic brutality and systemic sexual violence sending any Briton, let alone a non-violent mentally ill character, is deplorable and makes a mockery of British justice.

[tuktukdriver]

" laws which enable the US to extradite UK citizens with comparative ease" Another example of post WW2 "special poodle relationship"Damaging the UK, its citizens and standing in the world. Amnesty International has condemned the US prison system as rife with sadisitic brutality and systemic sexual violence sending any Briton, let alone a non-violent mentally ill character, is deplorable and makes a mockery of British justice.

There are different types of prisons in the US. If he does time, it won't be with the rapists and murderers. He'll be in a low security facility which probably has tennis courts.

If he's guilty, I hope he does get punished. How would you feel if he was in your bank account?

[Nietzsche]

I wonder how long he'll actually get?

My money's on five years.

[Mr Brown]

Last I heard he was looking at 60 years