Hain breaks ranks with Cabinet over McKinnon extradition
Deputy PM tries to defuse growing row
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Cabinet splits are appearing as political pressure over the extradition of Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon grows.
Peter Hain, the Secretary of State for Wales, broke ranks with his colleagues last weekend to call for McKinnon to be tried in the UK, the Daily Mail reports.
The move follows a rejection by two senior judges of McKinnon's appeal that his recent diagnosis with Asperger's Syndrome ought to block his extradition. The results of the judicial review, delivered last Friday, are subject to appeal for 28 days.
Failing a successful legal appeal McKinnon's only hope of avoiding extradition involves persuading politicians to intervene.
An opposition motion calling for a review of the Extradition Act was defeated in Parliament last month after previous Labour supporters of McKinnon reversed their position. During the debate Home Secretary Alan Johnson said he had no authority to intervene in the case or in any extradition actions unless the death penalty was involved.
Legal experts dispute this interpretation of the law. The Extradition Act is controversial because the US authorities only have to say they want a subject for trial on an indictable offence whereas UK authorities hoping to extradite someone from the US have to produce evidence to establish probable cause.
The high profile campaign on McKinnon's behalf continues to push for a UK trial. McKinnon's mum, Janis Sharp, has called on US president Barrack Obama to intervene and for the Home Secretary to reconsider his position. Johnson should be "standing up for British citizens", she argued, adding that her son could easily be tried in the UK.
Deputy PM Harriet Harman appeared to political talk shows and breakfast programmes over the weekend reiterating the line that the UK government couldn’t intervene in McKinnon's extradition but had obtained assurances on his treatment by the US penal system. Harman told the BBC that the UK government will press to secure McKinnon's early repatriation following any US trial.
"If he is found guilty, then obviously straight away we will seek for him to serve any prison sentence – if he is sentenced to prison – back in this country," Harman told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show, The Guardian reports.
She rejected the accusation that the extradition treaty between the US and UK was one-sided.
"If the Americans have made out in court a case that this is an allegation of an offense of sufficient seriousness that they want him to stand trial in America, I don't think it should be for the British Government or any British politician to say we are going to second-guess the criminal justice system," she said. ®
COMMENTS
"Because all your aliens are belong to us" ? The Peak of Hubris and a Sad NationAOL Indictment?
"I suppose in a way this sets a precedent in the McKinnon case in as much as the bomb was not planted in Scotland, but the damage was done in Scotland. In the McKinnon case he was situated in England, but the "damage" was done in the US." .... By Grease Monkey Posted Monday 3rd August 2009 14:50 GMT
Any "damage" done, and some would say that "necessary highlighting of systemic stategic weaknesses" is a much more accurate versioning of events, was not done in the US, it was done by IT Systems in the XXXXPanding Fields of CyberSpace.
Has that Facility/Vulnerability been Plugged yet or does it remain with the XXXXPerienced Amateur IT Professional as a Future CyberSpace Development Tool under New InterNetional Rules/Virtualised Guidelines.
The amfM HyperRadioProActive Posit is that it is Just So.
Would you Agree? ..... or Choose to Deny IT with another Intelligence which would only do Battle against and Exponentially Increasing Damage to itself, to Hide the Discovery in Order to Try and Maintain and Retain Flawed and Floored Systems, which have reached their Own Glass Ceilings? It is hard not to reasonably conclude that, QuITe Obviously, would such a Course of Puerile Actions be Catastrophically Self Defeating on an Unprecedented and Unpresidented Scale.
"Next time some inbred redcoat breaks into our military servers, we'll just arrange for a convenient traffic accident or some special sweetener in his tea. Much cheaper, much quieter, less hassle." .... By Anonymous Coward Posted Monday 3rd August 2009 22:10 GMT .... And how typically moronic, AC, of the Lower Gifted/Intellectually Challenged.
And the Big Brother icon because Brother Blair knows the score whilst keeping his mates in the Dark with Spinning Tales for that is what keeps him in Clover and Deep Cover. ........ although other would spell it differently and share that he is buried in IT as S**T and a Wannabe Leader.
Clearly, extradition is the wrong approach.
Next time some inbred redcoat breaks into our military servers, we'll just arrange for a convenient traffic accident or some special sweetener in his tea. Much cheaper, much quieter, less hassle.
Alien icon; Because all your aliens are belong to us.
NationalTreasure Troves in Private Loot and Pirate Booty*
This was just posted on the FreeGary.org.uk site ..... and it fits in quite well here too, methinks ...
"..you are not taught hacking, or any form of illegal activity as companies rely heavily on trust, Hacking is underground and illegal and untrustworthy individuals carry out the activity, and its very hard to learn how to hack effectively, it takes more than a trip down the library, so the intent is their already." .... Darren | August 1, 2009 9:24 PM
Darren,
That is a Open Vulnerability which Intelligence has Failed to Take Control of. It is though something which Officers in Cyber Security Have Addressed and are BetaTesting with Quantum Control Systems and Global Operating Devices.
A little something Mr Cameron and Lord Mandelson would know about, should they like to Imagine they have a Finger on the Pulse of the Nation..... for it has been dDirected to their Lairs, but probably QuITE Indirectly through Officious Layers and Hired Help ..... Official Hindrance.
And for All Political Buffs and Virtual State Diplomats, it is a Matter of Strategic National Security and Intelligence that any Prosecution and Questioning of Mr McKinnon, which will provide a Vulnerability Roadmap into Militarised Systems, be Assessed and Considered for OCS Use, and to Imagine that Defence in the Virtual Realm is an Indictable Offence in any Jurisdiction is an Obvious Travesty of Justice?
It is good to hear Peter Hain's voice on the matter, too.
Posted by: amanfromMars | August 3, 2009 3:48 PM
* Probably One of the First Modern Original Sins Founding Civilisations and therefore a Vital Element in Evolving Growth and Greater Consciousness. ... Distributed Attributed Knowledge in AI Beta Education ProgramMINGs.
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