14 DAY TRIAL // What seemed to be the imminent extradition of British hacker Gary McKinnon to the United States was set back again after the Home Office agreed to review new psychiatric evidence. McKinnon's legal representatives were given fourteen days to come up with other ways of attack, after their request to have the case heard by the UK Supreme Court was recently rejected.
Gary McKinnon of London, UK, was arrested in 2002 for hacking into as many as 97 computer systems belonging to the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, NASA, U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S Air Force. The U.S. prosecutors have requested the alleged hacker's extradition claiming damages of $800,000 and referring to his actions as the biggest military hack of all times.
McKinnon's case hat sparked heated debates about the extradition agreement between the two countries, which many claim is unbalanced to favor the U.S. side. Fearing that if the extradition takes place, Gary will not receive a fair trial abroad, his mother, Janis Sharp, has led successful campaign to garner support from the public and high profile individuals, including celebrities and politicians.
After the Home Office decided to grant the extradition, McKinnon's team of legal representatives delayed it through various appeals, including one at the European Court of Justice. On October 10, their request to take the case to the new UK Supreme Court was denied. The court decided that the case was not of “general public importance."
Following this outcome, the Home Office gave McKinnon and his lawyers a fourteen-day deadline to find another method of appealing or face the extradition. However, according to government lawyers, this deadline has been tossed and the Home Office Secretary, Alan Johnson, has agreed to review the new evidence regarding the hacker's medical condition.
Gary McKinnon has been previously diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism. His doctors claim that he has a high chance of developing suicidal thoughts if imprisoned abroad. The hacker has openly admitted to hacking into the military systems, but does not admit to damaging them. He motivated his actions by saying that he was looking for UFO evidence hidden by the U.S. government.
"We do take some hope from this. It is the first time that Alan Johnson will have a proper opportunity to consider the reports in this case and it shows that he is taking it seriously. In the meantime we don’t want to be hammering on his door," commented Janis Sharp for The Times.