McKinnon loses final appeal against extradition

Gary McKinnon, the Scottish hacker, who broke into thousands of official US computers in a search, according to him, for information about UFOs, has lost his appeal against extradition to the USA. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg rejected McKinnon's appeal on Thursday. His lawyer said in London that the 42-year old would be extradited in the coming two weeks. He is now threatened with many years' imprisonment in the United States for sabotage.

McKinnon had admitted repeatedly hacking into the computer systems of US institutions, including the networks of the NASA, the US Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the Department of Defense, over a period of several months between 2001 and 2002. His stated reasons were curiosity and his weakness for UFOs. The authorities on the other hand accuse McKinnon of having caused $700,000 worth of damage with the "biggest military computer hack of all time". Because of his actions, they claim, data were deleted and for a while, an important military system was paralysed.

McKinnon, a system administrator, turned to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg after the British House of Lords turned down his appeal against extradition in late July. The ECJ initially granted him a delay of two weeks. McKinnon's legal advisers have claimed that he could not expect a fair hearing in the USA. The consequences of extradition would moreover be "disproportionate", they said, because he was being threatened with imprisonment for up to 70 years.

Yesterday the judges in Strasbourg refused any further postponement. His defending solicitor, Karen Todner, said McKinnon was shattered by the decision. "Our client is now facing criminal prosecution and detention thousands of miles away from his family, in a country in which he has never set foot." He is also said to have been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. McKinnon previously rejected an invitation by the authorities to give himself up voluntarily in return for a sentence of imprisonment for a maximum of four years.

See also:

• Hacker McKinnon: extradition delayed
• McKinnon to be extradited to the US
• McKinnon's last ditch appeal to be heard by Lords

(trk)