An affront to British justice: Gary McKinnon extradition CAN be stopped, says Lib Dem QC
By James Slack and Michael Seamark
Last updated at 1:34 AM on 31st May 2010
Campaign: Gary McKinnon with his mother Janis Sharp
The coalition can and must save Gary McKinnon from extradition, the Government’s terror law adviser Lord Carlile says today.
The senior Lib Dem peer insists that blocking the Asperger’s sufferer’s removal to the U.S. for computer hacking would not set any legal precedent involving other pending or future cases.
Those currently fighting extradition to America include hookhanded preacher of hate Abu Hamza, who is wanted on allegations of setting up a terrorist training camp.
Lawyers for the convicted fanatic, currently in Belmarsh prison, would almost certainly point to his own poor health in a cynical ploy to try to save him from being thrown in a U.S. jail.
But in an article for the Daily Mail, Lord Carlile says of Gary’s plight: ‘It is a one-off, that suggests no precedent for other cases.’
The QC’s intervention heaps new pressure on Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to ensure Gary is tried in the UK – not sent to face up to 60 years in a U.S. jail.
Last week we revealed how Mr Clegg was backtracking on his previous position that the Government had the power to halt Gary’s removal on charges of hacking into military computers.
But Lord Carlile, legal adviser to the Home Office, said there was no doubt that the 44-year-old could be punished for his offences here.
He writes: ‘There is no doubt that Mr McKinnon could be prosecuted in this country, given that the acts of unlawful access occurred within our jurisdiction (ie from his computer in North London) and that he has admitted the offences.
‘I am not alone among experienced lawyers in considering the Home Secretary has the power to halt this extradition.’
Lord Carlile points out three cases similar to Gary’s have been tried in the UK.
Medical experts have warned that – if sent to the U.S – a vulnerable Gary will almost certainly kill himself.Home Secretary Theresa May has temporarily halted his removal to consider new medical evidence.
Mr Clegg – previously one of Gary’s staunchest supporters – surprised campaigners when he said: ‘What I haven’t got power to do, neither has the Home Secretary neither has even the Prime Minister, is to completely reverse and undo certain legal aspects of this.’
Gary’s solicitor Karen Todner said: ‘I think Nick Clegg needs to understand there is no court decision the Home Secretary would be undermining were she to make a decision based on the medical evidence which she now has that Gary McKinnon
should not be extradited.’His lawyers are submitting new evidence to Mrs May, who is then expected to spend weeks considering it. Mrs May has also ordered a review of the 2003 Extradition Act.
Legal experts insist that – while lopsided – the Extradition Act does allow Gary to be saved.
Advice obtained from human rights QC Tim Owen and Julian Knowles, one of the UK’s leading extradition lawyers, by the Mail stated the Act ‘gives the English courts the primary responsibility – but, importantly, not the exclusive responsibility – for ensuring that…safeguards are maintained’.
They went on: ‘It is therefore plain the Home Secretary has the power – and indeed the duty – to intervene in any extradition case, even after the court process has ended, if the evidence establishes that there is a real risk of a human rights breach should extradition proceed.
‘Statements made to the contrary are obviously and plainly wrong.’
Lord Carlile said there was no doubt that Gary McKinnon could be punished for his offences here
Lord Carlile, legal adviser to the Home Office, said there was no doubt that the 44-year-old could be punished for his offences here
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1282765/Gary-McKinnon-extradition-sto...
