(RTTNews) - Lawyers for British computer hacker Gary McKinnon have decided to challenge home secretary Alan Johnson's decision not to block his extradition to the U.S.

The decision came after Johnson told McKinnon's family he had carefully considered the new medical evidence but concluded that sending him to the U.S. would not violate his human rights.

"Due to legitimate concerns over McKinnon's health, we have sought and received assurances from the United States authorities that his needs will be met," said Johnson, who had last month agreed to study new medical evidence before deciding on the extradition after the High Court had previously refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

McKinnon's lawyer, Karen Todner, said she would issue judicial review proceedings next week and if that failed, they would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. She said Johnson had gone against independent legal advice which said he could have used his discretion.

Accusing the government of placing a higher value on a "deeply unfair" extradition agreement than on the welfare of a British citizen, Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said "the home secretary should stop being an American poodle and start being a British bulldog."
Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said the shoddy treatment of this "vulnerable man should demonstrate that our rotten extradition laws need urgent reform."

Earlier this month, the Commons' Home Affairs Committee said the extradition move should be halted owing to McKinnon's "precarious state of mental health." They concluded there was a "serious lack of equality" in the way the extradition treaty deals with U.K. citizens compared with U.S. Citizens.

McKinnon, 43, who has Asperger's syndrome, is accused of breaking into U.S. military computers and faces 60 years in prison if convicted.

The Glasgow-born Briton admitted to hacking into 97 U.S. government computers, including NASA's and the Pentagon's, during 2001 and 2002. He said he was on a "moral crusade" to prove U.S. intelligence had found an alien craft run on clean fuel.

by RTT Staff Writer

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