Extradition and the MoD

Posted on Monday, 3 August 2009, 01:16 p.m.

It seems at the moment that there is anti extradition movement, particularly concerning a case where the accused has admitted the crimes, namely hacking into the US defence computers. Gasp, shock, horror, let the world stop turning, surely this man is a dangerous mastermind who can bring us all down. Sadly not, he was looking for evidence about aliens and Roswell and the cover ups! If anything as Boris Johnson says in the Telegraph today he has done them a favour. If a man can do this from home with no malice intended, surely he has highlighted the flaws in the system, alerted them to the dangers they could face from darker minds and all for nothing, except it seems his liberty. It is widely acknowledged that the treaty the UK signed with the US concerning extradition is lopsided, why this comes as a surprise I have no idea, I have nothing against the US but it seems inevitable these days that they come out of all of these things better off than other signatories. Common sense should prevail, a man with asbergers syndrome who poses no threat to anyone does not deserve to be incarcerated in a US prison for up to 60 years. Yes he has committed a crime, that much has been proven, but even here in the UK would there be any sense in him spending a considerable amount of time behind bars?

This is not a victimless crime, the defendant is at risk of being the biggest loser, fair enough you may think, after all he did commit the crime, another reason was extradition in this case may be a farce but as we seem to be engaging former burglars as security consultant wouldn't his talents be out to better use as an adviser, helping to create codes for top secret computer systems that actually work and protect them. Sadly I feel justice in the true sense of the word will not prevail in this instance.

This brings us to the Ministry of Defence. They are trying to scale back damages to servicemen, many who have returned to duty after they have been injured. We all know that money is tight at the moment but denying people money when they have lost limbs, suffered psychological and physical trauma, doing a dangerous job is not good enough. I hate to say it but I hope that none of my children choose to join up, the lack of respect and funding that is shown to members of our armed forces is appalling. We should remember that without those who fought so valiantly in the past the world would be a very different place, perhaps it is just as well that the last remaining WW1 veteran passed before the shame of this case! True those signing up for duty have a good idea what to expect, it is not advertised as an easy option but in this culture where we award thousands of pounds damages to those who have suffered whiplash in a car accident or fallen down a pothole, surely we can award our veterans a sensible amount of money for the actual life changing injuries they suffer in honour of their country!