Saturday, 4 July 2009

Gary McKinnon Campaign

Gary McKinnon, also known as SOLO (born February 10, 1966), is a Scottish hacker facing extradition to the United States to face charges of perpetrating what has been described by one prosecutor as the "biggest military computer hack of all time." Following legal hearings in the UK it was decided in July 2006 that he should be extradited to the US. In February 2007 his lawyers argued against the ruling in an appeal to the High Court in London, which was turned down on April 3.

On July 30, 2007 the House of Lords agreed to hear the appeal and on June 17, 2008 the Law Lords began hearing the case. This Judgment was delivered on July 30, 2008 with the Law Lords judging that Gary McKinnon could be extradited to the United States.

He was given two weeks to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights before extradition, but the Court halted the extradition for an additional two weeks to allow time to hear his appeal on August 28, which was subsequently rejected. His legal team subsequently decided to lodge another appeal, which was granted, based on the fact that McKinnon has recently been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.

His diagnosis was made in August 2008 by the eminent psychologist Prof Simon Baron-Cohen.

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