Friday 31 July 2009

796 - Gary McKinnon

Because we live in a country where a man with Asperger's Syndrome chasing alien conspiracies can be extradited to the USA without any evidence being produced, please stop believing all the big causes have been fought for and won.

At the very least our government has shown cowardice by not stepping in to press for his trial to be held in the UK. At worst it is cruel and dismissive of its citizens. It has got this badly wrong.

I believe in love, in people, in non-violence. But if my government no longer believes in the nation state, I don't see why I should.

Please persuade me otherwise.

3 comments:

ColonelFazackerley said...

I do not accept the assertion that he is just a simpleton looking for UFO information. He left a message saying

"US foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism these days? It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand-down on September 11 last year...I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_McKinnon

Asperger's covers a wide spectrum. It may not mean that he is significantly impaired.

So, from what I have heard in the press, I am not convinced that extradition is unreasonable. It may be that it is unreasonable, but I have not seen enough detail to form an opinion of my own.

Steve Lancaster said...

I'm interested in the grey area - what do you do (especially when you represent an institution) when you are not convinced?

Seems to me Gary McKinnon is a rabbit in front of the headlights. Notwithstanding his guilt or otherwise (I understand he is happy to face trial in the UK), there's the question of how a state chooses to exercise the powers it has against him as an individual.

To take the car: rabbit analogy further, does the state try to put its foot on the brake, or simply look away and drive on through? Unless Gary is in some way considered less valuable than the passengers in the car, I would suggest some form of mitigating action would be appropriate.

This is about an unbalanced treaty, paranoia at state level (both America and the UK), and a mental condition we are only just beginning to understand, before it is about the innocence or guilt of an individual. That is important, but surely it comes second?

D'ya see?

theMuddledMarketPlace said...

please persuade you otherwise?

noooooo, don't think i could, even were i paid to.