First of all, do I think Gary McKinnon was wrong for doing what he did? Yes. But extradition is wrong for these reasons:
At the time of his offense, the maximum penalty he could have received in the UK was 6 months jail time, a far cry from the life term sought by U.S. prosecutors. He thought he was performing a public service (apparently he thought free energy cover-ups were allowing old people to freeze to death, and was trying to expose this), and was willing to risk 6 months for it – NOT his entire life
How in the hell did a self-admitted bumbling computer nerd autistic who was high on cannabis even hack into critical U.S. data systems?! If the U.S. security is so poor as to allow this, we are in big trouble. This type of security breach should not have been possible, and heads should roll at the pentagon for this to have even been allowed to happen.
He was trying to find evidence of UFOs, antigravity technology, and the suppression of “free energy”, all of which he claims to have proven through his actions. I would say he is a conspiracy “nut”, but considering his medical history a nut diagnosis or classification is actually probably just a manifestation of his condition.
These medical conditions consist of autistic spectrum disorders (Asperger’s Syndrome). He also suffers from depression and is suicidal over the thought of be forced to serve a life imprisonment in the U.S.
Anyway here is an interview with Gary and Chrissie Hind on ITN:
Among many of Gary’s supporters are David Gilmour, Sir Bob Geldoff and Chrissie Hind, who collaborated on this Graham Nash cover “Chicago – We Can Change The World” for the ‘Keep Gary Mckinnon Free‘ campaign:
UPDATE 2-2-2016 :
Curious about the final verdict, here is what i found on wikipedia:
Further appeals
McKinnon appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which briefly imposed a bar on the extradition, but the request for an appeal was rejected.
On 23 January 2009, McKinnon won permission from the High Court to apply for a judicial review against his extradition. On 31 July 2009, the High Court announced that McKinnon had lost this appeal. McKinnon’s legal team, solicitor Karen Todner and barrister Ben Cooper, applied for a judicial review into the Home Secretary’s rejection of medical evidence, which stated that, when he could easily be tried in the UK, it was unnecessary, cruel and inhumane to inflict the further stress of removing him from his homeland, his family and his medical support network.
British government blocks extradition
On 16 October 2012, Home Secretary Theresa May announced to the House of Commons that the extradition had been blocked, saying 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.” She stated that the Director of Public Prosecutions would determine whether McKinnon should face trial before a British court. On 14 December, the DPP, Keir Starmer, announced that McKinnon would not be prosecuted in the United Kingdom, because of the difficulties involved in bringing a case against him when the evidence was in the United States.
So yay, not all stories end badly, I’m glad prominent figures like Sting, Trudie Styler, Julie Christie, David Gilmour, Graham Nash, Peter Gabriel, The Proclaimers, Bob Geldof, Chrissie Hynde, David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Stephen Fry, and Terry Waite supported him, and I believe had a large influence on the final outcome. Good job guys 🙂