Pressure to review US extradition rules after Commons speaks
The Telegraph
By Tom Whitehead
December 6, 2011
In a landmark debate, MPs unanimously passed a motion calling for a review of the extradition treaty between the UK and US, which critics argue is unfair.
It was a significant victory for campaigners and families of Britons facing extradition, particularly Janis Sharp, the mother of Gary McKinnon, the autism sufferer wanted by American authorities to answer computer hacking charges.
Mrs Sharp said her son is suffering severe depression.
“This will be his 10th Christmas since his arrest and it has destroyed his life and it has destroyed ours,” she told BBC Breakfast.
“Here the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in 2002 that Gary was looking at six months’ community service but then when the Americans took over suddenly it becomes 60 years.
“So there is a huge disparity.”
The motion also called for a review of the European Arrest Warrant amid concerns it is used to target people suspected of the most minor of offences or who are innocent.
Critics have argued the 2003 Extradition Treaty is unfairly balanced against Britain because it is harder to bring a suspect from the US than to send one from the UK. …
