Gary McKinnon (a.k.a. the NASA Hacker) has lost his recent appeal to fight extradition to the U.S. McKinnon, who sees himself as little more than a computer enthusiast from north London, was appealing after Home Secretary John Reid determined in 2006 that he should be extradited for his computer crimes, instead of facing softer U.K. laws.
UFO Hacker has one last hop to avoid falling in to the hands of the US Government. (IMG:J.Anderson)
McKinnon will now be tried in the U.S. on charges of breaking into and damaging U.S. Government computers. His final saving grace is an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in France.
Gary McKinnon, the thirty-nine-year-old systems administrator accused of hacking several United States Government computers, has fought his extradition to the U.S. for a long time now.
In April of 2007, two senior British judges, Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Justice Goldring, dismissed arguments in the High Court that there was an abuse of process in the case against McKinnon over a plea bargain. His claims that his human rights would be violated if sent to the U.S. were also dismissed.
There was also an argument that the extradition should be blocked because of the time that has lapsed while waiting for the hearing. That too was rejected. Last October, McKinnon earned permission to plead his case to the House of Lords.
The charges against McKinnon stem from hacking sessions that deleted or accessed critical systems and files during February of 2001 and March of 2002. Among the systems accessed were computers owned by NASA, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Air Force.
McKinnon does not deny the charges that he gained administrator rights and accessed the systems. He used a program named ‘Remotely Anywhere’, which is similar to ‘PC Anywhere’, in scope and functionality.
“I got caught because I was using a graphical remote control tool and I forgot what time zone I was in,” McKinnon said shortly after his arrest. “Somebody was in the office when I was moving the mouse around.”
McKinnon's reasoning for the hacks was to uncover confidential information about anti-gravity propulsion systems and extraterrestrial technology, which he believed the authorities were hiding from the public.
However, according to early reports filed by the courts, around the time of the original trial, a note that McKinnon admits to leaving read: “U.S. foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism these days... I am solo. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels.”
McKinnon's lawyers have said they will fight the recent dismissal in the British House of Lords and take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in France. This would be his last hope however. If found guilty in the U.S., McKinnon could face up to 70 years in prison and fines of up to $1.75 million USD.
"Gary McKinnon is neither a terrorist nor a terrorist sympathizer. His case could have been properly dealt with by our own prosecuting authorities. Instead, we believe that the British government declined to prosecute him to enable the U.S. Government to make an example of him,” commented McKinnon's legal team in an official statement.
"American officials involved in this case have stated that they want to see him 'fry'," they added. "The consequences he faces if extradited are both disproportionate and intolerable and we will be making an immediate application to the European Court to prevent his removal."
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)
Advertising
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)