Was the decision to block the extradition of Gary McKinnon to the US where he faced computer hacking charges correct? Here’s my opinion.
This week Theresa May declared that she wouldn’t allow the extradition of Gary McKinnon to the US where he:
stands accused of hacking into the Pentagon and Nasa in his hunt for “little green men”.
The Home Secretary said she had taken the decision on human rights grounds:
As he suffers from Asperger’s and is a suicide risk, Gary had his extradition blocked using the human rights convention, which says that no one shall be subjected to “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
I for one welcomed this decision however hypocritical May was by invoking the Human Rights Acts. Also, as written by Shami Chakrabarti in a piece in the Guardian:
May didn’t employ the same compassion for Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan, extradited to the US earlier this month.
Of course, the USA didn’t react to the news very well which is regrettable but:
.. it is well known that the US was remarkably coy about extraditing IRA suspects back to the UK to stand trial during the 30-year “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. We even have well-known apologists such as Congressman Peter King, the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee attempting to demonise organisations like Wikileaks as terrorist organisations, while at the same being a life-long supporter of Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Provisional IRA.
So is this a case of double-standards being applied? For me, McKinnon isn’t a terrorist mastermind so is there any justification for treating him as such and pursuing him for the last 10+ years. I think May’s decision didn’t try to seek popular approval it just demonstrated a degree of common sense practicality, realism and empathy.
What do you think? Was this the right decision? Leave a comment HERE
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