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View Full Version : Gary McKinnon: extradition to US blocked ..


Drummond
10-17-2012, 04:24 PM
Is this getting any notable coverage in the US media ? See ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19961796

Gary McKinnon is a British citizen who successfully hacked into some of the most security sensitive computer systems that America has ..

See also ..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/9573577/Theresa-May-has-set-an-uneasy-precedent.html

McKinnon was accused of hacking into various computer systems, back in 2002 (including at the Pentagon), and the US has tried to get him extradited to the US to stand trial ever since. The case for blocking McKinnon's extradition is that to agree to it would violate McKinnon's human rights .. he's said to suffer from Aspergers Syndrome, and there's been a fear that, if extradited, he'll try to kill himself.

Our Home Secretary has accepted this as a legitimate concern, so, has blocked extradition proceedings .. presumably permanently. As of now, the issue of if he'll ever stand trial in the UK instead hasn't been determined.

So, what are your views ?

Mine is that (a) this sets a dangerous precedent in UK law, and (b) in this case, this is unjust anyway ! I believe the extradition should've gone ahead, and McKinnon should have faced justice for his crimes against the US.

And ... if there really were reasonable concerns about his mental health .. who are we to judge that the US system cannot reasonably deal with that ? Because it seems to me that the judgment passed in this case says that the US cannot be trusted to deal with these things properly !

McKinnon, by the way, came up with the laughable excuse that his hacking activities were intended to find high-level evidence of the existence of UFO's !! But - regardless - what McKinnon did was dangerous, not only for US interests but for the West as a whole. We cannot have an instance where anyone managing a set of crimes of such enormity escapes justice for it !!!
jimnyc
10-17-2012, 04:30 PM
I believe if he is being protected from the US, he should most certainly be brought forth on the same charges in the UK. Allowing someone to skate based on suicidal tendencies will only bring forth a lot of criminals claiming to be depressed and other crap. The only way, IMO, that his condition should matter, is if it legitimately prevents him from understanding his crime, and potentially where he may be allocated to depending on any sentence.
Tyr-Ziu Saxnot
10-17-2012, 07:15 PM
If he broke U.S. laws he should be prosecuted. He shouldnt escape by using that flimsy excuse IMHO. -Tyr
Dilloduck
10-17-2012, 08:01 PM
Launch the Drones !
jimnyc
10-17-2012, 08:02 PM
Launch the Drones !

Anything to add to the topic?
Dilloduck
10-17-2012, 08:04 PM
Anything to add to the topic?

No sir----sorry bout the joke sir.
jimnyc
10-17-2012, 08:06 PM
No sir----sorry bout the joke sir.

Find another thread to ruin, preferably in the cage area.
Drummond
10-17-2012, 10:43 PM
I believe if he is being protected from the US, he should most certainly be brought forth on the same charges in the UK. Allowing someone to skate based on suicidal tendencies will only bring forth a lot of criminals claiming to be depressed and other crap. The only way, IMO, that his condition should matter, is if it legitimately prevents him from understanding his crime, and potentially where he may be allocated to depending on any sentence.

Yes, that's exactly my own thinking.

I'm sure he fully understands his crime, and he's had at least a decade to get to understand it even if he initially didn't. Besides, even his own family have been fighting, they say, for him to be tried in the UK, so it's not as though even his nearest and dearest are saying he's incapable of being fit for trial proceedings.

No, their whole focus has been to keep him away from US justice.

And I just don't accept any argument suggesting he will lack any proper consideration of his 'human rights' if handed over to US authorities - partly because, illness or not, he should be properly culpable for his crimes (I think I read he perpetrated NINETY SEVEN hacks in all ... that's a considerable effort, one that must've taken some time, and been highly purposeful) ... also because I can't buy any hinted-at suggestion that the US system is incapable of giving whatever illness he truly has the appropriate care and consideration. Besides .. I'm not inclined to think he should receive more than the minimum such consideration anyway, considering the seriousness of what he's done.

As for where he may be allocated to .. well, assuming a British trial and 'guilty' verdict reached (and considering some of our judges, not to mention what we're bound to see from pressure groups here, who knows if that will happen ?) .. I'm guessing that few judges would be likely to give him a tough sentence; they'd be too inclined to weigh in favour of the issue of his illness. I can't believe any incarceration would involve any likelihood of anything less than a 'soft' jail environment, anyway - such is the socio-political climate over here.

And who knows, maybe even the EU Human Rights courts would step in and help him if by any chance I was wrong on any of that. I'm sure his family wouldn't hesitate to appeal to them if he did receive anything 'draconian' from our own court system. No doubt that's another reason for his family wanting him to escape US justice, so that this avenue then becomes open to them to pursue.