Sunday, August 02, 2009

Posturing

We've had little to say about the case of Gary McKinnon, the hacker facing extradition from the UK to the USA, because the legal machinery seems to be in relentless motion as it was with the NatWest 3. So just one thing --

The government has promised it will ensure the hacker facing extradition to the US would serve any prison sentence in the UK amid a deepening row over whether it has legal power to stop the transfer.

This is shite. The NatWest 3 got to finish out their sentences in the UK (and in a strange twist, may have lessened their debts by getting convicted in the US and serving sentence in the UK), because there already is a provision for sentences to be served in the home jurisdiction as long as the US court approves. So there is no new concession to Gary McKinnon. The government is "promising" something that is already there. If they're 100 percent committed to the Extradition Act they should just say so and stop using weasel formulations so make it sound like something different.

No comments: