In the latest twist in the saga of Gary McKinnon, the Home Secretary has defended his decision not to block the computer hacker’s extradition to the US.
McKinnon is facing up to 60 years in jail in the US after he hacked into 97 military and NASA systems in a bid to find secret information about aliens and UFOs. The US alleged his hacking caused it to shut down critical systems and networks in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, and caused damages of approximately £435,000.
However, in November Johnson said the information he had been provided with in the case of McKinnon was not “materially different” from that placed before the High Court earlier in the year, and therefore he could not contradict the ruling.
In an interview with the Enfield Advertiser, Alan Johnson said he still believes Mr McKinnon should be extradited. “Having Asperger’s isn’t a reason why you can’t face the courts,” he said. “Actually, there are people who have much more serious mental illnesses than Asperger’s who the courts have decided must still face the music for what they’ve done.”
McKinnon has been granted a review of the Home Secretary’s decision by a High Court judge. The review will examine Alan Johnson’s conclusion that a US trial would not breach McKinnon’s human rights.
“Politicians don’t decide whether to prosecute people: it’s a fundamental part of the way our country runs,” said Johnson. “The director of public prosecutions decides and it is his decision to prosecute Gary McKinnon and his decision to prosecute him in America – to extradite him.”
“All the courts – the district court, the high court, the House of Lords, the European Court, and the appeal court – upheld that decision and indeed the most senior judge in the land has said it would be unsatisfactory in the extreme for Gary McKinnon to be tried anywhere other than America,” he added. “That’s because the action was against America, the witnesses are in America, and so that’s that.”
McKinnon’s supporters have been vocal in their appeals against the Home Secretary’s decision. His solicitor Karen Todner said the numerous court battles had been taking a toll on his mental health, and McKinnon’s Conservative MP David Burrowes described Johnson’s decision as “spineless”. McKinnon’s mother Janis Sharp has also warned that he is at risk of suicide.
“Gary has been in a heightened state of terror for almost eight years,” she told the BBC back in November. “You wouldn’t do it to an animal, for a person to go through this every second of every day is against anyone’s human rights.”
The date of the judicial review has been set for 25 May.
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At the moment the story regarding Gary McKinnon's ease of entry into unpassworded high security systems seems to be happening. Who let him walk in in the first place?
Lawers in the UK, Canada and the USA have been asked to see what they can come up with in order to get the case thrown right out of court - and finally let Gary and his family get some peace.
Won't fly. It is the act of accessing these machine that was illegal -- every government machine has a warning, informing that unauthorized access is punishable by fine and imprisonment.
Gary made an informed decision and got caught each time he accessed a computer.
Mr. McKinnon should go underground, disappear in anonymity. There is no perspective for him, nor for millions of other Originals, in a system that is run by the likes of Mr. Alan Johnson and other Operating Thetans.
The fact is that the warning is also meant to be followed up with government level security - add 'human nature' and truly held beliefs driven by different realities than you or I live by... possibly ... and the security firm failed in its job to stop the 'humans will be humans' factor and had nothing else up their sleeves because they left the door open and a man intent on finding serious and powerful facts spent two years or more looking for this in order to out the USA.
The USA has areas of its build that allow bullies and cowards to rule (so do we, I know) - Money talks. It looks like a bad tv movie - USA v Gary.
If the passwords had been government level instead of non-existant I could see a case re Gary if he had spent two years cracking every security measure thrown at him - he didn't.
He found computers with no passwords on and walked in.
I would have done as well if I had the nerve to so deeply need to know something as World changing as this knowledge could be that I would risk the wrath of a country who
attempted over 600 assassination attempts on Castro,
who talked whilst New Orlean's blacks sat on top of their houses waiting for help,
who invaded Iraq and let the infrastructure be destroyed in order that Haliburton gets the rebuilding contract,
Guantanamo,
Black Ops, etc.
It would sound melodramatic but all that pails into insignificance at what Gary might have found.
Just suppose he is right
Punish a man who truly believes what he believes?
Gary McKinnon even told them their security was crap over the period he was walking in.
Someone must loath him
It does feel awfully personal
@d_wilson - If you left a loaded gun lying around and a kid picked it up and shot themselves - who is to blame.
Are you in anyway accountable for leaving a loaded weapon lying on the table for a child to pick up?
Well - Gary picked the gun up - but it was the USA Governmental Departments responsible for SECURING PROPERLY the Networks on which their information is stored.
The logs from Nasa show that millions of attempts have been made on their networks since they initially linked to the WWW - Gary Mckinnon is only one of them !
Gary is not well known in America but he is well known and loved by his people in the UK and they are the eveidence that Gary is NOT a TERRORIST or anything remotely near!.
Visit http://www.freegary.org.uk and see for yourself.
Google him - check out You-tube...the whisper is becoming a roar.
THIS IS ALL WRONG !
The embarrassment 'they' feel is understandable - but the effort they are now putting into 'distracting from their own inadequacies' in the whole 'open' access network system they ran - SUCKS , and far outweighs the pain and suffering they have caused to Gary and his mother Janis!
Their Networks are still accessible to this day - they just don't KNOW it !
Gary should be 'spoken' to at home by those who seek his blood.
Gary should be treated with respect for showing their weaknesses.
Gary should be given peace after a decade of torment.
Shame on everyone involved in this shameful 'legal abduction' of a UK Citizen.
I agree with you 100% Cliffsull
to John Morse, March 14, 2010 : 11:39 pm
I love the word Originals when applied as you use it. Yes, Gary McKinnon should, in theory- with the legal and sensible setup being what it is, just flee the country and go live in anonymity.. but that would just add a new 'game' to the American list of things to waste resources on.
Maybe what should really be happening is that all of the World's population who hear of Gary McKinnon's actions and the American govt's reactions should come out of anonimity and stand up for Gary and, at the same time, for each of themselves and their children.
PS If any of you know Obama mention Gary McKinnon to him
I feel sad that the UK government cannot feel some sympathy for Gary. Why they cannot be strong and insist Gary is kept at home in England, and allow the US agents the facility to interogate Gary here. Gary should be sentenced under the UK laws he has broken, and probably do some prison time, after all he broke the law.
But all interrogation, sentencing and possible incarceration should be right here in the UK.
It seems the UK has forgotten or overlooked this poor man. Also he was mostly a truth-seeker, and we should all be seeking the truth. Maybe not by busting in to NASA PC's, thats just silly, should Gary be sent away to the USA for 'silly'?