MPs urge Obama not to extradite ‘unwell’ hacker
MORE than 100 MPs will today urge President Obama not to extradite Asperger’s sufferer Lauri Love on charges of hacking US government systems.
The ‘vulnerable and mentally unwell’ son of a Scots minister is facing a 99-year prison sentence in the US, but his parents have warned that he would not survive the American justice system.
The 31-year-old’s case is described as ‘almost identical’ to fellow Asperger’s-suffering computer hacker Gary McKinnon, from Glasgow, who was spared extradition following a Mail campaign.
Some 105 MPs have signed the letter, including Caroline Lucas, David Burrowes, Nadine Dorries, Sir Gerald Howarth and Dame Margaret Hodge.
In the letter, shown exclusively to the Mail, they say they are writing with ‘deep concern’ for Mr Love’s safety.
They write: ‘There is significant concern that Mr Love’s physical and mental well-being would deteriorate and become unmanageable if he were extradited.’
Former Glasgow University student Mr Love is alleged to have stolen huge amounts of data from US agencies including the Federal Reserve, the US Army, the Department of Defence, Nasa and the FBI using his home computer. But the US government is yet to produce any evidence, despite requesting his arrest which was carried out in 2013. Since then, Mr Love has faced a three-year legal battle against extradition.
Last month, a judge agreed that Mr Love should be extradited. It is expected that Home Secretary Amber Rudd will rubber-stamp the agreement imminently but his legal team plan to appeal the decision.
The MPs urge the President to prosecute Mr Love, from Stradishall, Suffolk, in the UK rather than extradite him to the US. In conclusion, they write: ‘You would be acting to prevent this vulnerable and mentally unwell man from being placed in a situation where he will most probably take his own life.
‘Mr Love should face prosecution for any crimes committed in his own country where his suicide risk is exponentially reduced. We urge you to carry out an act of compassion in your final days as President’.
Barry Sheerman MP, chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Autism, said Mr Love provided a ‘public service’.
He added that the number of signatories was a result of concern at the court’s failure to apply the ‘forum bar’ – the principle that an alleged crime should be tried in Britain rather than abroad if possible.
He said the level of support shows ‘a real and significant concern that the forum bar is not functioning to protect vulnerable British citizens.’
Mr Love’s case is strikingly similar to that of Mr McKinnon, a hacker whose extradition was blocked in 2012 due to the risk of him ending his life.
Then home secretary Theresa May intervened in the case following a campaign by the Mail.
At the time, she said: ‘I have concluded that Mr McKinnon’s extradition would give rise to such a high risk of him ending his life that a decision to extradite would be incompatible with Mr McKinnon’s human rights.’
Comment – Page 14
‘Deep concern for his safety’