By Nick Heath, 3 September 2008 16:46
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Mrs McKinnon, pictured here, is furious at the Home Office's initial refusal to accept McKinnon's recent diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, as fresh evidence to block his extradition.
McKinnon's mother told silicon.com: "He is a gentle guy and a vegetarian who has never had a criminal conviction and he can not understand the witch-hunt against him. How can anyone call him a terrorist and want to lock him up alongside murderers and rapists? It's absolute nonsense."
"The family can hardly put one foot in front of another - it is horrendous. You just sink into depression. We have already had a six-and-a-half-year sentence dealing with this."
She attacked the UK government for allowing the US to extradite McKinnon using a one-way treaty - which only allows the US to extradite citizens from the UK and not vice versa - and one that was signed in 2003, two years after the offences were allegedly carried out.
His mother added that the US has recently changed the law so it would not have to prove McKinnon had damaged the systems he accessed to get a conviction.
Photo credit: Nick Heath/silicon.com
Comments
There are 3 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
There has since been another protest last Sunday outside the American Embassy.
More than 100 people turned up, with rousing chants being directed towards those in the American Embassy
There is to be yet another protest held outside the Home Office on Friday the 10th October at 4pm.
2. Jay Jackson
Brilliant coverage and excellent piece of Journalism and photo journalism on this highly relevant case.
3. Lindsay Gray
First of all, I have no connection to McKinnon or his family, but I truly feel that every other current human rights issue in the U.K. takes a back seat to this one.