The Countdown

There are now 25 days remaining in the wait for a decision on the fate of Gary McKinnon. When the British High court came together on the 24th of July last summer, the decision at that time was that Home secretary Teresa May, was too consumed with preparations for the Olympics to properly examine all the medical evidence. As has been pointed out by Mr. McKinnon's MP David Burrowes, it has now been (almost three) weeks since the close of the Olympic games... And still there has been no decision. Now, Teresa May had stated in July that the decision would come around October 16th. (or 25 days from now).

I believe I can safely say that for many... The tension is terrible. I've tried to imagine the torture of being on bail for (literally) a decade of your life, with one of the conditions being that you report to a police station every evening, and another being that you are not allowed on the Internet. For a man with Asperger's Syndrome who does not drive and needs to lead a very simple life...
Well... See where I'm going with this?

But none of us will ever fully know what Mr. McKinnon has suffered, having constantly wondered whether he would suddenly be extradited thousands of miles away to the US to face charges for computer hacking crimes committed over a decade ago. As Gary's mother Janis Sharp has stated many times "I have watched my son age and die before my eyes.". Sharp has also said that people would never be allowed to treat an animal in the way that her son has been treated. Furthermore, Gary has not raped or murdered anyone. My point is... And I know that many would agree with me, that this sort of time does nnt fit Gary's alleged "crime.". Many others have done the same, or much worse, and received no sentence at all. Even more disturbing is the absolutely one sided and unfair, supposedly "secret" extradition treaty made between the US & the UK (supposedly when Tony Blair was in office). My biggest question, still is, Why did the American government decide to come after Gary McKinnon, more than (two?) years after he'd already been originally arrested and sentenced...to six months? In a land where a man is (supposed to be) innocent until proven guilty, it is inconceivable to me that the US would enter into ANY agreement allowing any citizens from anywhere to be extradited based on only a SUSPICION of wrong doing. In my opinion, this violates everything we stand for, because it denies people the due process of law that America has always guaranteed it's own citizens. It seems to me that we destroy our own credibility when we deny this process to citizens of other countries...especially when Mr. McKinnon's alleged "crime" took place in the UK... Not the US. My point being that I do not understand why it is that (someone) believes it so necessary to extradite a developmentally disabled man, and take him thousands of miles away from home.

President Obama has stated that he would respect whatever decision that the British government made in the matter. So now, it is up to home secretary Teresa May and Parliament to do the most humane thing possible and allow Gary to be tried in the UK. In so many ways, he has already suffered a sentence that is too long, and severe anxiety due to his AS prevents him from being able to travel out of the UK, which can seem like a minor point when one considers that (according to OUR government), Gary will face up to 70 years in prison.

Please God... No! And the countdown continues.