745 people have signed the FreeGary pledge on PledgeBank

745 people have signed the FreeGary pledge on PledgeBank

'I, George, will Make a Representation to the Home Secretary on behalf of Gary McKinnon but only if 10 United Kingdom voters will do likewise.'

Thankyou to everyone who signed this pledge, promising to make a Representation to the Home Secretary on behalf of Gary McKinnon, so that he is not unfairly extradited to the USA, but has the chance to be tried properly in a British Court of Law.

The Extradition Act 2003 section 93 Secretary of State's consideration of case specifies a 6 week "permitted period" from the Qualifying Date i.e. from Wednesday 10th May when Gary last appeared at his last Extaradition Hearing (not a trial) at Bow Street Magistrates' Court, after which time the Home Secretary is no longer obliged by law to take any Representations into consideration. He has up to 2 months to make his decision, so any Represenations made after this 6 week period may either be too late i.e. the decision will have been made, or, given how busy the Home Secretary is at the moment, they will almost certainly be ignored.

Please send any Representations to reach the Home Office by Wednesday June 21st 2006.

Realistically this means that letters should be posted no later than Monday 19th June.

What is a "Representation" ? It can be a simple one line letter or email saying "Please do not let Gary McKinnon be extradited to the USA", or it can be lengthy and detailed legal arguments about the inequality of the the current UK-US extradition arrangements, British sovereignty, and proportionate natural justice etc. It is up to you - a hundred letters in people's own words carry more weight than a form letter signed by a thousand.

You can send an email or a letter to:

Home Secretary Rt Hon. John Reid MP
c/o Direct Communications Unit
Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London SW1P 4DF

email: public.enquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk

(N,B. public DOT enquiries ....)

Telephone: 020 7035 4848 (09:00-17:00 Mon-Fri)
Fax: 020 7035 4745
Minicom: 020 7035 4742 (09:00-17:00 Mon-Fri)

website: Home Office Contacts page

Although this is the 21st Century, letters by post still seem to literally carry more weight, with civil servants and politicians, than emails do.

If you do send an email, remember to check the Read Receipt option in your email software if you can.

Your name and address on the letter or email will help to convince the civil servants who will be filtering these, that you are serious, although if you feel intimidated by the Home Office, at least your first name and town or city would be better than an unsigned letter.

If you do get any interesting replies to your letters, please forward the details here to the FreeGary.org.uk website (info@FreeGary.org.uk) or post them as comments below, for publication (without personal details) so that people can see whether the Home Office are taking this case seriously or not.