Self-confessed hacker Gary McKinnon has won the support of
London mayor Boris Johnson in his campaign to stand trial in the UK
rather than the US on hacking charges.
Gary McKinnon, whom the Americans allege committed "the greatest
military hack in history", has been fighting extradition since 2005
for offences he committed in 2001 and 2002.
Writing in the Telegraph, Boris Johnson said the US's efforts
to extradite the UFO fan as "neocon lunacy".
"To listen to the ravings of the US military, you would think
that Mr McKinnon is a threat to national security on a par with
Osama bin Laden. According to the Americans, this mild-mannered
computer programmer has done more damage to their war-fighting
capabilities than all the orangepyjama-clad suspects of Guantanamo
combined," Johnson wrote.
McKinnon was diagnosed recently as having Asperger's Syndrome,
an autistic condition. As a result, the UK High Court has said it
will review the Home Secretary's decision to extradite him. In
addition, the director of public prosecutions is considering trying
him in the UK following his admission that he committed offences
under the Computer Misuse Act.
Johnson wrote: "It is brutal, mad and wrong even to consider
sending this man to America for trial."
Describing the British government's actions as "spineless", he
said: "How can the British government be so protoplasmic, so
pathetic, so heedless of the well-being of its own people, as to
sign the warrant for his extradition?"
Johnson called on US President Barack Obama: "Tell the US
military to stop being so utterly wet, dry their eyes, and invest
in some passwords that are slightly more difficult to crack."
Conservative Party leader David Cameron would open the UK's
files on unidentified flying objects if he is elected prime
minister, according to
reports in The Times.