Gary McKinnon, indicted in 2002
on charges of hacking into U.S. government computers, will not be
extradited to the U.S., the U.K. Home Secretary Theresa May said on
Tuesday.
The risk to McKinnon’s health posed by extradition to the U.S. was simply too great, according to May.McKinnon has fought a decade-long battle in the U.K. courts to avoid extradition to the U.S., seeking instead to face trial in the U.K. He has Asperger’s syndrome and is at high risk for suicide, according to a statement issued Monday by his attorney Karen Todner.
“After careful
consideration of all of the relevant material, I have concluded that
Mr. McKinnon’s extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him
ending his life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with
Mr. McKinnon’s human rights,” said May.
It will now be for the director of Public
Prosecutions to decide whether McKinnon has a case to answer in a U.K.
Court, according to May.
No comments:
Post a Comment