Home Secretary blocks extradition to US

The Home Secretary has announced that Gary McKinnon will not face extradition to the US.

He has been charged with hacking into US Pentagon and NASA computer systems between 1999 and 2002. He has Asperger’s syndrome and human rights organisation Liberty and his lawyers have long argued that – as the crime was committed on British soil – a British judge should decide if he should face justice here in the UK.

Theresa May has now halted Gary’s extradition on the grounds that it would be incompatible with his human rights. Her decision comes after a report by Home Office-appointed psychiatrists warned that Gary would very likely attempt suicide if sent for trial across the Atlantic. The US had wanted to prosecute him on charges that could have resulted in a 60-year prison sentence.

The Home Secretary also announced that the law would be changed to introduce the “Forum Bar”, which means British courts will be allowed to bar extradition where the alleged conduct has taken place in whole or in part in the UK and it is in the interests of justice to do so.

Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty, said: “This is a great day for rights, freedoms and justice in the United Kingdom."

“Extradition should prevent fugitives escaping – not allow for Britons like Gary to be parcelled off around the world based on allegations of offences committed here at home.”