Free Gary McKinnon

3:27 p.m. M.S.T. Wednesday 14 February 2007

Dear Sir:

On the web-page: http://freegary.org.uk you are quoted as arguing on Mr. Mckinnon's behalf: "that his extradition should be blocked because the US authorities had offered him a shorter sentence in return for agreeing to extradition. [Edmund Lawson, QC,] claimed that this constituted an "improper approach" to McKinnon."

Another argument is that inspite of any agreements with the US government, once in US custody, Mr. McKinnon could be sidetracked to Guantonamo or into a military tribunal. I read the seven count indictment and noticed that the US government felt it necessary to break down the hierarchy of the departments and agencies that Mr. McKinnon is alleged to have hacked into. For example, the US Department of the Army is a branch of the US Department of Defense. But, the US government did not specify that the computers at Fort Meade were computers of the NSA. The NSA is a branch of the Army which is a branch of Defense.

If Mr. Mckinnon is extradited to the US he should have the right under the US Constitution and Bill of Rights to confront in court, the witnesses against him. If any of the computers at Fort Meade, that are listed in the indictment belong to the NSA, then the construction of the indictment itself is already violating more than one of Mr. McKinnon's rights under US law.

Also, If Mr. McKinnon pleads guilty to one or both of the Counts in the indictment that list computers at Fort Meade and if those computers belong to the NSA, then Mr. McKinnon may be subject to the National Security Act and Executive Orders that deny him any rights under US law. As a foreign national, he would not have even the right to Habeus Corpus under current Executive Orders, let alone continuing to consult with you. None of the above would involve terrorism, but Mr. McKinnon would still be screwed.

Sincerely,

Eochaidh MacDhalaigh OghaChruithne
Ceann-tighe
Na Fineachan Gaidhealach
Na Fardach Cinnidhean
1325 South Animas Street
Lordsburg, New Mexico 88045
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

@ "Honey-bear, Breaker of Pots" -

Whether the NSA is named directly or not does not really make much difference. Lots of "unclassified" or "low level classified" information circa 2001, which was available to the public Internet and on the NIPRNET, has subsequently been re-classified as Secret or Top Secret etc.

In theory, Espionage charges could be brought as a result of any of Gary's alleged activities, on any of the military computer systems, even though no such charges appear in the November 2002 indictments.

In theory, if Gary were to be extradited to the USA and then the the US Government were to come up with extra charges, separate to those which he was extradited on, then the principle of "speciality" which is in the UK-US extradition treaty and the UK Extradition Act 2003 section 17 Speciality would apply.

Gary would then have to be released back into British custody, deported to the UK and then a fresh Extradition application made on those new charges.

How likely is that ?

"Speciality" only applies if it all stays within the civilian legal system. If Presidential Executive Authority, Military Order No.1 etc. are invoked, a la Guantanamo Bay etc. then all that goes out of the window.

Plea bargaining and browbeating and threats by prosecutors, to try to get the accused to plead guilty , may well be standard practice in the USA, but the concept is, rightly, treated with extreme suspicion in the United Kingdom legal system. It has only just been made legal to offer such reduced sentences or immunity from prosecution etc., and then only for Serious Crimes, in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 Chapter 2 Offenders assisting investigations and prosecutions, which is intended to provide incentives to get someone to betray their criminal confederates, something which does not apply in Gary's case, as he has none. This law was passed 3 years after Gary was arrested, and 2 years after the alleged offer a a deal.

The reasons for the suspicion of such "plea bargaining" practices are based on the historical evidence of corruption and the fact that "super grass informers", have literally got away with murder.

The enormity of such a buereaucratic struggle between countries should not, by law, be brought to bear on the shoulders of any man.

Nor should any man be threatened with 'at least 45 years' in prison or the electric chair, for quite harmlessly (as is the reality of this particular case) hacking into some computers. That should also be against the law.

This whole thing is ridiculous and casts shame on those administrations and Judges involved. The crimes being prepetrated against humanity by this trial far outweighs any crime Mr. McKinnon committed.

Reid, Blair, and Brown are far too eager to squeeze into Mr. Bush's underground bunker, if you ask me.

Disgusting. I'm utterly ashamed of this country's conduct in this matter.

I am also dissapointed by the Lord's lack of response to these matters. There was a time I felt they were the last bastion of rationality against the current administration's incompetence and arrogance.

Shame, shame, shame.

If you can't do the time...

'Andy' I am sure he can do the time...In a British prison. The idea that the US can come into our country and pluck anyone they deem necessary for extradition is overwelmingly alarming, especially as our government has vertually given them carte blance to do so. Do you not recognise how under the US thumb our great nation has become? He (Gary) has THE right as a British citizen to be tried by a british judge in a british Court. Are you American by any chance?

Reply to: ctb

I couldn't agree more!!
Apsolute shame!!!

BF - I'm with Andy. This guy commited crimes against the United States of America - and you say he should not be punished by the victim? If he had commited crimes against Great Britain - where should he be tried...Spain? He is a good hacker, but a poor mathematician. If he had taken the plea bargain he claims was offered in 2003, he would not only have been back in Britain years ago, but he would also be out of his British prison by now.

How sorry I am to hear of the plight of Mr McKinnon, sadly the result of unbearable pressure applied by two governments on one individual. I do hope that Gary returns to good health soon, and can carry on fighting the evil persons who are doing this to him.

bigsibling, the simple answer is, an individual should be tried under the laws of the place in which the alleged offence was commited, ie London, under English Law.

What if I decide, from my US home, to make a phone call to Colombia, in order to arrange a huge shipment of cocaine to be delivered to the US? Would you expect me to be extradited to Colombia to stand trial? Of course not, that would be silly, the offence would have been committed in the US, and, if caught, I would be rightly tried under US Law, not extradited to a foreign land to stand trial under foreign law.

I have logs on my box right now showing IPs from the US are attempting to brute force my SSH server, and running exploits against my Apache server.

How many of those favourable of the extradition of Mr McKinnon to the US are also in favour of the extradition of those people attempting to crack my box to the UK, so that they may stand trial here?

Not many I will bet, and the hypocrisy of those people is simply breathtaking.

Mr McKinnon is being harrased and persued by the US government, not because of his activities, but because he spoke out of his activities, and explained how simple it was to 'crack' the 'security' (and I use the word loosely in the context) on the systems he is accused of 'hacking'.

In the US at the moment, due to their displeasure with US citizens using European on-line gambling sites, they have decreed that the US citizen embarking on such a pastime, and in doing so avoiding paying US tax, is guilty of a crime that should be punished IN the US, because that's where her proverbial arse was parked. The argument in securing Gary's extradition was the complete opposite. Ponder and respond ...

I grow increasingly alarmed and saddened as I follow this travesty of justice. I wish Gary the very best of luck in his battle against such outrageous injustice.

Mr McKinnon as a British citizen should be tried under UK law, and serve his time in a British prison.

"This guy commited crimes against the United States of America - and you say he should not be punished by the victim?"

He should be punished under the law he broke. The US has NO jurisdiction in the UK, and no right to extradite people to make a scapegoat for their mistakes.

What what Mr McKinnon did wrong? Undoubtably. However, he agreed to abide under UK law, not US law, and as a result should be tried under UK law. If he had emigrated to a location owned by the United States, and accepted to abide by their laws, only then should be be tried under their law.

"If he had commited crimes against Great Britain - where should he be tried...Spain?"

What? What are you talking about? You weaken your argument significantly with such a stupid comment.

In this hypothetical example, he should again be tried under the laws in which he has to abide as a citizen, no matter who the victim.

Hang in there Gary. Even if the worst comes to the worst, there are good people out there rooting for you.

I'm sure none of them will rest until you are tried justly.

Gary,

Let me just reiterate what a lot of others are saying:

You have a lot of support in the UK and indeed around the world - more perhaps than you realise. Keep the faith and you'll be fine.

Damn shame. Wish there was something I could do to stop this from happening. They should not extradite anyone, I am against anyone being extradited to America period, becaus eto me, America hasn't got s justice system. Only abuse of power. But thats irrevelant right now.

What Gary has done is a mark of a lot of people who are generally fed up of being denied, lied to and prevented from the information that the general public have a right to know. I want to write here to let Gary know that I am completely on his side, and he has my full support in this matter. I am disgusted tha the British government seem to be supporting the shameful act of extraditing him

I extend my sincerest wishes to Gary for a full recovery, and my hopes form the depths of my heart that he is not wrongly and unjustly extradited to the states.

Btes of luck to you Gary, hang in there. We've all got your back.

Am I missing something? How come the site hasn't been updated since the February 14th court date? What was the outcome?

@ Justin - there is no set time by which the Appeal Court have to make their judgement by - it could be tomorrow or it could be in several months.

The Enron 3 bankers extradition to the USA case took over 4 months for the Appeal Court to come to a decision, and another 3 months for a Committee of the the Law Lords, to decide not to allow a further appeal to the House of Lords.

The Babar Ahmad case, which has similar issues regarding Military Tribunals etc. took from July to December last year for the High Court Appeal decision to be made to allow extradition, with leave to ask the House of Lords if they would consider an appeal, or not, a procedural decision which is still pending.

Neither Justice nor the Public Purse are well served by such lengthy delays.

Thanks... I had mistakenly thought that the court was to arrive at some sort of conclusion February 14th regarding the appeal. Hence my surprise that the site had not been updated since then.

How's Gary doing health-wise after his most recent court hearing?

At Rense.com is an article entitled: "Operation Falcon and the Looming Police State" by Mike Whitney from

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17190.htm

that gives a well documented summary of the dangers that may be facing Gary right now.

However, I still believe that the form of the indictment that lists NSA computers (fg's stated conclusion after the article about honeypots and my surmise that the writer just hinted at NSA involvement) in two counts, but doesn't explicitly cite the NSA as being a party to the indictment, violates Gary's civil rights under the US Constitution and Bill of Rights to cross exam witnesses will be thrown out of court. Also, the British government will obtain certain concessions from the American government concerning Gary's treatment.

But, consider worst case scenarios for Gary's supporters - us.

Major i.G. Siegfried Knappe of the war-time Wermacht was captured by the Soviet Army at the end of World War II. He related that some German soldiers in the Siberian death camp where he was, would lose spirit from the harsh treatment and tell their Soviet interrogators that they weren't thrilled with Communism and the Soviet Union, knowing that by doing so they would soon be starved and worked to death, rather than possibly repatriated in the distant future.

So, how do we resist the neo-Nazi American Police State without thereby throwing away our lives? Hacking or even assisting the US Pentagon with its password challenges, as Gary did, will land future hackers in the Haliburton concentration camps. In fact, all of Gary's efforts with free energy and other issues that ticked off the USA will result for other like minded people in being rounded up according to the current American legal situation as described in Mike Whitney's article.

Right now, is everything that Gary did that teed off the US government a honeypot? Should we just say "Zieg Heil" and strive for less punishment?

I am ashamed of this so called Labour government for allowing this further crawling to the American extremists. Gary is a harmless nerd who did the USA a favour by showing the weakness in their system. The $700,000 cost is mostly to strengthen the system , this should have been done before. China, Russia, N, Korea etc must have already broken this system and the USA is taking revenge on a harmless nerd. The UK should stop crawling to America

If he had been a "terrorist"they would never have found his computer

i am an american who believes mckinnon should be tried by the courts of his own country,crazy, huh?i see little evidence that his crimes were anything worse than ''snooping''and revealing how easy it is to hack into supposedly secure military/government cpu's

Gary said he saw names and ranks of non-terrestrial officers. Meaning "Officers working in space or other planet" or "Officer from another planet" This is why he will not be allowed to elaborate too much on what else he saw while hacking.
"They were all very human like", did he see pictures? or was it just the names that seemed human.

Either way, I'm sure we'll only find out when someone else hacks into nasa,etc BUT THIS TIME PRINTS OFF SOME EVIDENCE!!!

Hi,

Do you know the biggest secret in the world ?

: U.F.O , Unidentified Flying Objects

This secret has been hidden for almost 60 years
from the citizens all over the world by many governments

The 1st reason for what Gary Mac Kinnon is in jail
is (he was interested in UFOs) because he downloaded
some ufo pictures from the internet , as he said a BBC journalist.

Before the 1st atomic bomb was launched , the secrecy concerning
UFOs was at the highest level of secret.. far BEFORE the Atomic bomb.

As a Frenchman I'll be arrogant as usual :-), saying why is
the England the America's poodle ?
Have the England still a sovereignty ?

So why this poor Scottish young man has been betrayed
by its own country ?

This secret concerning UFOs must be kept at any price
because it concerns : antigravity , free energy from the vaccum
,interstellar trips, secret powerfull weapons ...secrets kept both
by army and officials.

A small group of politicians and military want to keep these priviledges
even if this planet is dying with pollution.
What the humankind needs is a "revolution of the minds".

Free Gary ,Free Gary NOW !!

I f..k THE BUSH's GOVERNMENT and all the warmongers.

THis illogical state of affairs has to be
confronted with the best lawyer the uk can offer for Mr Mckinnon
regardless of the extradition game that is in hand,for the sequence of events regarding pressing charges are seriouslyflawed,so the placement of the defence will show the prejudice of the case against Mr Mckinnon
having been contaminated in law,
and the reading of what is between the line regarding the levels of charges,
so that the entrapment is preempted in court..

also compensation for the stress caused to Mr Mckinnons health
with the overbearing stance taken by the US authoritys by making him a media scapegout for the ills of terrorism in the ongoing multi layered
world stage....of conflict,,,
He is NOT a terrorist but a TRUTHSEEKER against that which is corrupt and doesnt want to disclose or debate or discuss for its own fears,
which wants wants to hide itself,

so the contradiction is,

a justice seeker,truth revealer being given ill justice.by manipulators of truth,he has never denied anything.
so this is bullying farce.

kafkeasque protocols at the highest level is nothing but shameful
acts of posturing .

his crime was to ask what if,
his method foolish,
his intention to reveal the truth,
his reason ,to push new technonogy
if true, forward into the public domain,

so why is he beng subjected to this Harsh treatment and where is our home secretary on this matter,
walking his dog on a sunday morning
ineffective in power on what is a question mark on British Justice

such Hypocrisy reflects bad on th Uk

W chapman

NOBODY had jurisdiction over the TRUTH.

Blank administrator passwords? In a high security environment? Secure information on Windows based systems? Unencrypted? And THEY rule the world? Hackers unite.

What crime?
Hacking into a criminal's PC network is a crime?????

HOW DARE THE IDIOTS in the US of Decadence ask for extradition.

The USA government is definitely the worlds largest organized terrorist organisation.

The CIA has the blood of over a million people on it's hands.

Let's get something straight to all the American readers - YOU ARE NOT THE LEADERS OF 'THE FREE WORLD' - you are THE JOKE of the free world.

YOU are less than 5% of the Earths human population, and thanks to the current criminal regime, the most universally despised and HATED 5%.

How does it feel chuck?

Do what you like with this guy - ten will take his place.

You won't catch them all.

Amen to that.

Let the dice roll Uncle sam :-) - we'll just see what happens won't we?

tata

Gary's extradition demonstrates that the U.S.A. has made itself inconsequencial in world diplomacy. There's terrible violence in Somalia and the violence involving America in Iraq is just another horrible situation among many others. There's no longer anything special about America or America's position as the only Super Power in the World. Going after Gary in the way that it's done so - refer to the two points of law that may be considered by the House of Lords - does indeed show that America is the joke of the free world.

An interesting aside is that Malcolm X wrote in his autobiography that way back in the '60's America was hated around the world. In fact, President Nixon when he was Vice President during the '50's, thought that it was raining in the South American country that he was visiting, until he found out that people on the level above him at the airport, were spitting on him. What was the C.I.A's body count back then?

My advice to Gary, do what the North Koreans did, switch to Linux. Stop using Windows (trademark of Microsoft, Inc). Windows (c), Microsoft (c), and Mr. Gates are all part of the American Empire. Europe has alternatives. So, Gary my man, forget about passwords and computer security. Don't fix the ultimate predator, ride a different mount.

"Gary said he saw names and ranks of non-terrestrial officers. Meaning "Officers working in space or other planet" or "Officer from another planet"

Earth to Colbalt Blue, come in Colbalt Blue, Earth to Colbalt Blue, can you read me, Colbalt Blue? I was a radio operator in the Army.

The list of non-terrestrial officers that Gary saw is a fake. U.F.O. information has the highest secret classification. Even the classification is classisified. If the list was real, it would have been in code. The names would not have been recognizable as names and the list would not have been recognizable as a list. None of the real U.F.O. information is accessible over the Internet. If someone in the U.S. military had made a mistake and made a list accessible over the Internet, the list would have been unrecognizable and in code.

During the year or two that Gary entered Pentagon cyberspace, the C.I.A. did a psychological profile of Gary using such information as Gary being about 40 years old and spending a huge amount of time and money on the Internet and also information about other propeller-heads.

The other hackers that Gary noticed hacking into the Pentagon when he did, were members of a pseudo-community that the C.I.A. countre-espionage branch created for Gary, based upon their conclusions that Gary is a lonely guy looking for a sense of community. The list of non-terrestrial officers is also a part of Gary's pseudo-community.

Even my pulse-rate would rise above 55 beats a minute if an intelligent female scientist in Building Nine confided in me that N.A.S.A. air-brushed photos of U.F.O.s But, unfortunately, she too is a member of the C.I.A.'s pseudo-community created just for Gary.

Gary is not charged with possessing classified information. The validity of the fake information that Gary was fed will never be determined in court. So, the C.I.A. psychiatrists who used mind-control on Gary never had to waste time on that issue.

Let's reverse-engineer the C.I.A. countre-intelligence programme against Gary. During the '50's and the space technology race between the United States and the Soviet Union, they would have fed Gary schematic drawings of U.F.Os. so that intelligent female Russian scientists (it's up to 58, right now) would have wasted thousands of hours of research before determining that the blue-prints were fake.

Because the C.I.A. attacked Gary using a pseudo-community, we can be sure that group dynamics is at the top of the American's agenda. How to countre the European Union, the Moslem world, the Russian-Chinese alliance, etc. This means that they will use Gary as a straw-man. When Gary gains support around the world, they'll embarrass him with something like "driving under the influence" or simple possession of a controlled substance.

It's the old "divide and conquer." The anti-American coalitions and sentiments around the world are taken very seriously by at least some people in the C.I.A. The way the C.I.A. has fragmented opposition in the past is to prey upon the convergence of oppressions - classism, racism, sexism, and genderism. Gary is a white male, heterosexual, relatively affluent, compared to the Third World victims of American aggression; but, is in the same boat as the current victims of Guantanomo, the C.I.A. secret prisons, and the American Empire. The C.I.A. is using Gary to sink that boat.

If Gary is not extradited, then British Intelligence will have put an end to the American game, because, after all Gary is a UK citizen in the UK itself, and British Intelligence has a duty to protect British citizens from what used to be a foreign intelligence service.

If Gary is extradited to the U.S. then British Intelligence has enabled Gary's dream of making amends for breaking into American computers, by helping the Intelligence services with their password challenges, to come true. Even better, he'll be working for his country.

But, if British Intelligence doesn't tell Gary about the American game, then Gary will lose his soul.

Sincerely,

Dr. H.B. Freud

@ "Freud" - what proof have you for this conspiracy theory ?

1. Argumentum ad Hominum: fg, you're very savvy as indicated by this web-site.

2. In a book by Lorna Blackie, Gary's clann, McKinnon is mentioned as having opposed the building of a Poseiden or Trident nuclear missle base in Scotland across from some clann McKinnon land many years ago.

3. Nuclear weapons are the TOP security concern of the C.I.A. That's the one thing that they're good at.

4. At that time, U.S. intelligence had the excuse to operate on British territory and check out all members of clann McKinnon, around the world, especially in the U.S., in order to make sure that there was no involvement of U.S. citizens or others in the opposition to the U.S. military industrial complex in Britain.

5. That's when young Gary came to the notice of American intelligence.

6. When older Gary went into IT, U.S. intelligence was notified.

7. That's when Gary was influenced to buy that Chechloslovakian (I don't know how to spell every foreign word, sorry) Pearl software and break into U.S. computers. The Checkloslovkian internet company was a C.I.A. front. So, reverse engineering, who influenced Gary from the time he entered I.T. and bought the C.I.A. software?

In other words fg, Gary was not a free agent, he was entrapped, and therefore, he'll be acquitted if he's indicted.

Here's the other thing, fg, when Gary got into those American computers, the number of characters that he entered at the keyboard during each search, the frequency of the searches that he entered, and the topics of his searches as well as his grammar, etc. was recorded. Then, the C.I.A. used the operant conditioning techniques of positive reinforcement (gave him a little more information that he was seeking), negative reinforcement (ignored some, but not all of the enquiries that the C.I.A. did not want pursued, the C.I.A. didn't want to give itself away), punishment (breaking his connections, asking him "what do you think you're doing?" "who are you?" etc.) in order to shape his behavior (what he did when he was in U.S. government computers). His attorneys can reverse engineer the C.I.A's. schedule of einforcement for Gary and prove that he was a victim of behavior modification.

For example, at what times did he receive the information that he desired? Did the breaks in the connections or someone on the other end questioning his being there, fit a pattern as far as the type of information he was seeking or again, the timing.

The time that his attorneys notice a pattern that any first year Behavioural scientist would recognize as a schedule of reinforcement is the time when Gary is no longer legally responsible for his behaviour. As soon as the C.I.A. began conditioning Gary, Gary was a victim of entrapment.

Gary's pseudo-community, including his audience (the other hackers that the C.I.A. software let Gary know were doing the same thing) was a nice touch on the part of the C.I.A.

My proof, fg, is that what happened to Gary concerning his experiences during the time that he entered U.S. government computers would be recognized as a countre-intelligence programme by any retired or fired member of your intelligence services. For Gary's sake, check it out.