Janis Sharp, the mother of Gary McKinnon, has been successfully lobbying politicians like Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling MP, at the Conservative party conference in Manchester.
She also addressed the National Autistic Society organised fringe meeting.
The Herald newspaper from Scotland reports:
Gary has been in a really bad way, near suicidal ... this is inhumane
Torcuil Crichton
Published on 8 Oct 2009
The mother of the Scot who is facing extradition to the US on computer hacking charges last night launched an impassioned plea for her son to be allowed to stay in the UK.
Janis Sharp told a fringe meeting of the Conservative Party conference that its pledge to rewrite the country's "one-sided" extradition agreements would come too late to save Glasgow-born Gary McKinnon from being sent to the US for trial.
Mr McKinnon, 43, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, is accused by the authorities of infiltrating Pentagon and Nasa computer networks in what has been described as the "biggest military computer hack of all time". He faces a possible 60 year maximum jail sentence
"I'm not confident the High Court will allow him to go to the Supreme Court, if not he will apply to the European Court, " said Mrs Sharp. "But with the Nat West three the European Court considered their case while they were sent to the US. We're the only country in the world doing this to its own people."
Mrs Sharp spoke after Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Justice Minister, promised an incoming Conservative government would rewrite the "one-sided" laws to make sure that evidence for extradition cases would be heard in the UK.
Mr McKinnon will learn by the end of this week whether he can appeal to the new UK Supreme Court against extradition under a 2003 act, brought in after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Under the law the US government does not have to provide a prima facie case when requesting that a suspect be extradited, causing dissatisfaction among civil liberties campaigners.
"The Americans want to give Gary 10 years on every count because he has embarrassed them," Mrs Sharp told a meeting hosted by the National Autistic Society, which is supporting his case.
His medical condition, diagnosed after the publicity surrounding his arrest, was entered as a factor in his latest appeal but that was rejected by the High Court. Medical experts have concluded there is a grave risk to his health if he is extradited to the US.
Mr McKinnon's legal team claim the new supreme court of England and Wales must hear the appeal under the European convention on human rights. They argue that because the court has agreed to hear an appeal against extradition to the US brought by Ian Norris, a businessman who has prostate cancer, that ruling should also apply to their client.
The case of Ian Norris is scheduled to be heard by the new UK Supreme Court on the 30th November 2009. - see the schedule of future sittings (.pdf)
It would be cruel if Gary were to be extradited to the USA before then, but it is technically possible.
"This is seven-and-a-half years and it is inhumane and it is wrong," said Mrs Sharp. "Gary has been in a really bad way, nearly suicidal. This is on our minds 24 hours a day."
[...]
Dominic Grieve QC MP, the Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Janis Sharp
The Conservative's have promised to "re-write" the US-UK extradition treaty and law.
The Daily Telegraph reports:
Conservatives pledge to reform Gary McKinnon extradition treaty
The Conservatives have committed themselves to changing the "lopsided" extradition treaty under which Gary McKinnon faces being extradited to the United States if they win power.
By Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor
Published: 7:00AM BST 08 Oct 2009[...]
Dominic Grieve, the shadow Justice secretary, told the party conference in Manchester that "a Conservative government will re-write" the treaty.
Mr Grieve said: "Can someone tell me how counter-terrorism will be served by extraditing Gary McKinnon to the United States for hacking into government computers in search of UFOs.
"Ministers say they can't block his extradition. They can't over-ride the law. But we have proposed a change in that law, sitting in the House of Lords right now that would prevent the McKinnon case every happening again.
"Why hasn't the Government accepted it? When will Gordon Brown wake up and stand up for the rights of British citizens? Our extradition laws are a mess. They're one-sided. A Conservative government will re-write them."
The Tories are hoping that the Government will accept an amendment in the House of Lords to ensure that if a crime is committed in the UK, it must be tried here. Longer term, Mr Grieve said later that the party was looking for a "break clause" in the existing treaty with America.
This is a reminder of the wider political issues which surround the Gary McKinnon extradition case - everybody in the United Kingdom is at risk of a similar injustice, whilst the current Extradition Act 2003 remains unamended.