14 DAY TRIAL // Last week we learned that the famous Ryan Cleary was indicted by a United States court for the hacks that targeted Sony Pictures, PBS, and Fox. However, his defenders argue that an extradition to the US is highly “undesirable.”
According to ITProPortal, Cleary’s lawyers state that they would find it unusual if their client were sent to the US to face the charges brought against him, mainly because he suffers from Asperger’s syndrome.
“As yet, no decision has been made as to which charges Mr Cleary will deny or accept, but we can state now that should any application be made for Mr Cleary's extradition then it will be fiercely contested,” Karen Todner revealed.
“Mr Cleary suffers from Asperger's syndrome and is on the autistic spectrum and extradition to the United States is totally undesirable. We would once again urge the UK government, particularly in light of the evidence of internet and computer cases coming through the courts, that they now review the US Extradition Treaty.”
Such potential extraditions, including the ones of Gary McKinnon, Richard O'Dwyer and Christopher Tappin, have been highly contested by both hacktivists and simple UK citizens, which means that in case Cleary does get extradited, the court’s decision will probably not be received too well.
Cleary’s case is a complicated one, to say the least. He was arrested back in June 2011 by UK authorities, but he was shortly released on bail.
Investigators learned that he broke the strict bail conditions when he emailed Sabu last Christmas and put him back behind bars in April 2012. Last month, the suspected hacker appeared in front of a judge alongside three other members of the LulzSec collective, Jake Davis, Ryan Ackroyd and a minor.
It’s worth noting that Cleary’s defense has been playing the Asperger syndrome card since day one.