Right Result…

…Wrong Process.

The extradition treaty between the USA and the UK agreed by the egregious David Blunkett in the wake of the disproportionate hysteria and panic that followed terrorist attacks in the early 2000s was an appalling arrangement in that it treated British citizens unequally. The US prosecutors are not required to provide prima facie evidence of guilt before asking for someone to be turned over to a justice system that is even worse than our own –  don’t even get me onto the dreadful plea bargain where an innocent is blackmailed into pleading guilty in order to get a lesser sentence or face decades behind bars.

Just remember the British citizens who were handed over to account for crimes without providing evidence before a court that would support the extradition –  the Nat West three and the chap who sold batteries, for example. It’s not whether they or Gary McKinnon were guilty that is the issue, it is the circumstances behind the extradition. The arrangement is unequal in that the government of the day simply rolled over and offered the USA a deal the USA would never have granted us.

So, it’s good to see that the home secretary has some balls and has stood up to this monster. However, she has not done as she should do and ripped this treaty to shreds, she used the human rights act.

The sole question for her had been whether Mr McKinnon’s extradition to the US would breach his human rights.

Not good enough, frankly. What needs to happen is for this treaty to be repealed and a new one put in place that treats us as equal partners –  insisting that the US prosecutors provide evidence of probable cause before a court to support their case before demanding that British citizens are sent across the pond to face their justice system –  as is the case in reverse.