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As we followed the Gary McKinnon case quite closely whilst it was happening, here’s the latest update.
At least he seems to be getting a break in the case as he’s won the right to have his extradition case heard by the House of Lords.
Gary McKinnon, the ex-systems administrator accused of conducting the biggest military hack of all time, has won the right to have his case against extradition to the US heard by the House of Lords.
The decision gives McKinnon and legal team a fresh chance to challenge the extradition, having argued previously that the US authorities acted in an “oppressive” manner to secure his removal from the UK.
McKinnon has always maintained that, since the alleged offences took place in the UK, the UK is where he should stand trial. No date has been set for the House of Lords hearing and he remains on bail.
The last time we head about the case he was about to be extradited to the US under the terrorism act, bad news. At least it looks like he might get a fair trial.
McKinnon has always maintained that, since the alleged offences took place in the UK, the UK is where he should stand trial. No date has been set for the House of Lords hearing and he remains on bail.
“Gary McKinnon is delighted to learn of this important development,” said his barrister, Ben Cooper.
McKinnon, who is accused of causing £475,000 worth of damage to computers by hacking into systems belonging to the Pentagon, Nasa and the US military from his home in North London, could face a life sentence in jail with no chance of repatriation if he is extradited to the US.
At a hearing in February that went against McKinnon, his lawyers claimed that under human rights law he had a right to be tried in the UK.
If you are not familiar with this case you can catch up on our first post here:
British Hacker Gary McKinnon Fears Guantanamo
And why he got busted:
Gary McKinnon Busted Because he Forgot the Time Difference
Source: Computer World
Daniel says
Finally we see some logic being applied to this case. It’s nice to see that someone has the balls to actually give Gary a fair chance of not heading towards Cuba and spend the rest of his life wearing orange jumpsuits
Sandeep Nain says
Well that was really strange that he was not trialled in britain from where he performed these attacks …
atlast he probably will get justice and punishment according to his crime which hopefully will not be under terrorism act..
TheRealDonQuixote says
Hopefully, with the current distaste for US relations in Brittan, McKinnon will get a fair trial without the tainted misgivings of the so called “Terrorism Act”, which is really an Act of Terrorism. However, the House of Lords may know all too well where their bread is buttered.
Yes, McKinnon should stand trial, but not held to the fire, quite literally, by the Spanish Inquisition like conditions that the “Terrorism Act” allows.
Guantanamo torture bay they should call it. The politics of fear must stop somewhere. Maybe the UK can muster the bollocks to do it. The US sure can’t.
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
– Bejamin Franklin
Darknet says
Well although the crime was committed in the UK the victim was not on UK soil thus the crime is actually a cross-borders affair. The terrorism spin is bullshit though and I wish they would stop pulling it. The guy didn’t cause any great damage nor cause a state of national security alert. Slap his wrists and move on, stop trying to make a case out of him.
Nobody_Holme says
extradition to nations known to torture = supposed not to happen. how are considering this? anyway, good luck to the man.
Alfred Farrington says
Why do these government sites keep getting hacked? Looks like someone needs to review their security policies.
Sandeep Nain says
Well they need someone not only to look at them but to fix them as well..
and govt should start hiring some good security professionals who know what they are supposed to do … on top of that user awareness is pretty important factor in keeping the infrastructure secure.
BUt I’m happy that Gary will get a fair trial at the house of lords