From: Andrew Johnson
Date: 2008-09-17 14:32:32
#ygrps-yiv-600208622 .ygrps-yiv-600208622hmmessage P { PADDING-RIGHT:0px;PADDING-LEFT:0px;PADDING-BOTTOM:0px;MARGIN:0px;PADDING-TOP:0px;} #ygrps-yiv-600208622 .ygrps-yiv-600208622hmmessage { FONT-SIZE:10pt;FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma;} From Gary McKinnon’s Mum……. Hello Everyone,Please see details of planned Protest and letter below from me (Janis/Gary’s Mum) Gary McKinnon protest 28 September to take place in Grosvener Sq. outside the US Embassy – so that’s 4 pm on Sun 28 Sept outside US Embassy in London.The last meeting of London ARM (minutes forthcoming) agreed that we would seek to hold a protest about the possible extradition of Gary McKinnon on the 28th September (a Sunday) from about 4 pm. We agreed to try and get wider allies on board, including Liberty, Amnesty International, the UK Disabled Peoples Council, and others, such as local Stop the War Groups and any interested political parties. I’d like to ask people to actively try and get a hold of people who they think might be interested in joining in such an event. Protest is to take place in Grosvener Sq. outside the US Embassy – so that’s 4 pm on Sun 28 Sept outside US EmbassyThanksRoderick [politicsofautism] Re: Gary McKinnon protest 28 September From: politicsofautism@yah… on behalf of roderick cobley (rocobley@hotmail.com) Reply-to: politicsofautism@yah… This link is an update from Gary’s Solicitor Karen Todner news.zdnet.co.uk/sec… Any day now, my son, Gary McKinnon, could face extradition from Britain to
the United States where he would stand trial for hacking into US government
computers and could face a sentence of sixty years (Charged with 7 counts, proposed sentence Ten Years Per Count) Gary has recently been diagnosed as suffering from Lifetime Aspergers Syndrome, which is why I and his family and his many friends and supporters around the world are arguing
that Gary should be allowed to stay in the U.K and face the courts in the
country where the offence, if offence there was, was committed.
The United States authorities waited two years to call for Gary’s
arrest because of a then unratified, unsigned extradition treaty between
the two countries which would make it easier for them to have a British
citizen sent for trial in the US. Yet, when he was first arrested in London, Gary was told he would probably get a sentence of community service for his hacking activities. He naively admitted computer misuse
before he had engaged a lawyer and without a lawyer even being present. We
were still unaware that he had Aspergers Syndrome.
Gary gained no leniency for his honesty and on the contrary, his
extradition has been relentlessly pursued by the British and American
authorities, despite the crown prosecution service (CPS) declining to
prosecute Gary in Britain. This attitude will hardly encourage British
citizens to come clean regarding any crimes they may have committed. If no
leniency or consideration is given when a person accused of a crime
immediately and openly tells the truth, there is little point in them
admitting to anything.
The CPS refusal to prosecute Gary here was clearly done to allow the
Americans to arrest him two and a half years later, once the one-sided
extradition treaty was introduced and then made retrospective.
In addition, in order to indict Gary, the US authorities had to claim a
specific amount of financial damage. Gary has always denied causing damage
and without proof of such, the U.S could not prosecute him. Then, just a
month ago the U.S prosecutors stated in an interview, that once Gary was
extradited, the most difficult thing to prove would be the damage!
Several weeks ago the goal posts were changed yet again when the U.S
brought in a new law whereby no proof of damage was required where
military computers were concerned.
For the American law to then have been conveniently changed at such a
crucial time, so that proof of damage is no longer required speaks
volumes and does little to give us any faith in such a “legal” system. (Gary has always denied the alleged damage)
Surely as a vulnerable adult with Aspergers Syndrome, Gary should be
allowed to stay in the U.K and face the justice system of the country where
his alleged offence took place.
So why is Gary’s Extradition still being sought? He admitted computer mis-use six an a half years ago and the U.S have changed the law so that they now have no need to prove the alleged damage. So why is there now any need for a trial? Gary could be sentenced to serve an appropriate time in an open prison in the U.K If we can somehow keep up the pressure, the Home Office just might rule in gary’s favour, as they are now apparently re-considering his case. If this happened Gary & Lucy (and us “Janis & Wilson”) could all have our lives back again. Every morning for six and a half years we have woken up gripped by fear at the prospect of Gary being extradited and spending most of his life in a hard line U.S prison, or even dying there. On most days it’s difficult to wake up and put one foot in front of the other and this intense long term stress and fear has taken its toll of us all for the past six and a half years. This in itself has been a sentence of continual Torment. Please try and come to the protest and get everyone you can to attend, as it just might change things for the better and at the moment the only hope we have is to draw attention to the injustice, extremely flawed treaty and proposed disproportionate sentence This is not just about Gary; it’s about the fact that any U.K citizen can now be extradited to America on the strength of an allegation alone. These allegations are presented to our courts as Facts and accepted as such by our courts and Law Lords without the accused having any opportunity to challenge or rebut the allegations. Our courts and Law Lords have publicly pronounced Gary guilty of Damage to military computer systems without him having the benefit of a trial in which to challenge the allegations. This has severely prejudiced any trial Gary might have in the future. This treaty was signed in secret under the “Queens Prerogative” by David Blunket a day prior to Parliamentary recess, so that no debate by Parliament was able to take place. This so called treaty was not signed by the U.S and despite the fact that it did not come into effect until April 2007, it was made retrospective in 2004 to allow them to request the Extradition of my son Gary and others without any proof having to be shown. A Prima Facie case was effectively dispensed with. How can a treaty by its very nature be one sided and how can it be made retrospective? The Nat West Three, British business men and white collar workers have been extradited under this one sided treaty without any proof having to be provided, although Politicians were told that the treaty was to be used for Terrorists. We used to have a statute of limitations in this country and I don’t know when that changed. Many Thanks for the support given to us by friends and compassionate strangers who have become friends. Your help is appreciated more than you could ever know. Yours Sincerely Janis (Gary’s mum) Note Pinochet and others accused of extremely serious crimes lost their legal battles – Pinochet in fact lost twice in the Lords before the Secretary of State intervened at the last minute
(Jack Straw – who also prevented the extradition of Roisin McAliskey to Germany for an allegation of IRA terrorism) to prevent removal from the UK and end the extradition process. McAliskey was on the grounds of mental health and Pinochet I believe primarily physical health.
However they were viewed at the time as political decisions in sensitive areas. Gary’s crime of computer misuse is so miniscule in comparison to either of the two cases just mentioned.
