On 23 January 2009, Gary McKinnon's attorney released
this statement:
Today the European Court of Human Rights ('ECtHR') ruled against
Mr McKinnon's application for Rule 39 Interim Relief. This
application was made in order to stop our client's extradition to
the United States pending a further substantive application to the
ECtHR against his extradition.
The temporary prohibition of our client's extradition as granted
by the ECtHR on 12 August is now effectively lifted and the
authorities of the United Kingdom are now free to extradite our
client to the United States.
The offences for which our client's extradition is sought were
committed on British soil and we maintain that any prosecution of
our client ought therefore to be carried out by the appropriate
British authorities. Our client now faces the prospect of
prosecution and imprisonment thousands of miles away from his
family in a country in which he has never set foot.
The Act of Parliament under which our client was extradited
contains no provisions barring extradition for offences alleged to
have been committed in the UK. Our client's case highlights a
worrying trend where UK citizens are at the mercy of the
ever-increasing tendency of overseas prosecutors to extend their
jurisdiction to crimes allegedly committed in this country.
Mr McKinnon has recently been diagnosed as suffering from
Asperger Syndrome. As a result, we will be writing to the Home
Secretary again inviting a prosecution in this country.
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