MPs will seek a meeting with the new US ambassador after
their attempts to have self-confessed hackerGary McKinnontried in the UK were rebuffed by the
home secretary yesterday.
Michael Meacher (Labour), David Davis (Conservative) and Chris
Huhne (Liberal Democrats)
told home secretary Alan Johnson that he had the power to stop
McKinnon's extradition to the US.
McKinnon faces charges in the US that he hacked into 97 US Army,
Navy, NASA and Defence Department computers immediately following
the 9/11 attacks, left the military network vulnerable to intruders
and caused thousands of dollars of damage.
According to Meacher's
blog, "(Johnson) confirmed - contrary to some reports - that it
would not be illegal for him to block the extradition. But he made
clear that in his view, after a string of court decisions at all
levels over the last seven years, it would be very difficult for
him to do so."
A Home Office statement said, "It would be illegal for the Home
Office to stop the extradition of Gary McKinnon, which the High
Court ruling has made clear. Mr McKinnon is accused of serious
crimes and the US has a lawful right to seek his extradition, as we
do when we wish to prosecute people who break our laws."
According to Meacher, Johnson said humans rights laws gave him
the power to act only if there was evidence that the defendant
could be subject to capital punishment, or that he might be
transferred to a third country, or that he might be tried on a
different charge from that being alleged.
At an
earlier hearing by the Law Lords, it emerged that FBI
investigators had threatened to see McKinnon "fry" unless he signed
a plea bargain deal. McKinnon, who suffers from Asperger's
Syndrome, an autistic condition, told Computer Weekly at the time
that he believed they meant to electrocute him.
The home office said the previous home secretary had already
sought and received clear assurances from the US that McKinnon's
health and welfare needs would be met, should he be extradited.
According to Meacher, Johnson was reluctant to set a precedent
by stopping McKinnon's extradition in case it affected other cases.
This included that of Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, whom the
Americans want on terrorism charges. Abu Hamza is serving seven
years for inciting murder and racial hatred.
The delegates said this showed flaws in the Extradition Act
2003. Not only did it give rights to the US that were denied to the
UK, but it applied the same rules to a misguided but innocuous
young man as to a serious alleged terrorist, Meacher wrote.
The delegates asked Johnson to consider intervening behind the
scenes with his US counterparts in the US department of justice and
homeland security. Johnson declined to do so.
"Our next move is to seek a meeting with the new US ambassador,"
Meacher wrote.