PM accused of failing to try to halt extradition by US of alleged hacker
THERESA MAY has been accused of failing to ask Donald Trump to halt extradition action against alleged computer hacker Lauri Love as MPs raised concerns he would be at high risk of suicide.
The cross-party group of 73 MPs warned there was a “great probability” Mr Love, who has Asperger syndrome, would end his own life if sent to the US to face trial over alleged cyber crimes which lawyers say could carry a sentence of up to 99 years if convicted.
The 32-year-old, who lives with his parents near Newmarket in Suffolk, 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, in a spate of online attacks in 2012 and 2013.
In their letter to Attorney General Jeremy Wright, the MPs said “eminent experts” judged Mr Love would be at “very high” risk of suicide if sent to the US for trial and urged him to pass on their concerns to his American counterparts.
Their warnings echo worries raised in October 2016, when more than 100 MPs wrote to thenpresident Barack Obama calling on him to block Mr Love’s extradition, stressing their “deep concern” for his safety.
A High Court judge is due to consider an appeal over his extradition later this month.
However Mr Love’s supporters said the Prime Minister had failed to heed the warnings and raise the case with the president in the hope he would intervene and order US authorities to allow Mr Love to be tried in the UK.
The campaigners said there had been “widespread public concern” over the potential consequences of Mr Love’s extradition.