Defense says extraditing British hacker with Asperger's would violate human rights

From The AP:

LONDON — Prosecutors failed to consider the human rights argument against forcing an autistic British man accused of hacking into U.S. military computers to stand trial in the United States, a defense lawyer said July 14.

Attorney Edward Fitzgerald told the High Court that extraditing Gary McKinnon (pictured) carried "an avoidable and unnecessary risk of serious psychological suffering."

U.S. prosecutors accuse McKinnon, 43, of breaking into 97 computers belonging to NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and several branches of the military soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. McKinnon says he was looking for evidence of UFOs.

McKinnon has been ordered to stand trial in the U.S., and British courts have rejected several attempts to block his extradition.

His lawyers argue that McKinnon should not be extradited because he has Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism, and could be at risk of psychosis or suicide if he is sent to the U.S.

Earlier this year McKinnon offered to plead guilty to a criminal charge in Britain to avoid facing trial in the United States. But the Crown Prosecution Service ruled that the case was best prosecuted in the U.S.

Fitzgerald said the service and its top official, Keir Starmer, had failed to take account of humanitarian factors when they made the decision.

McKinnon's lawyers have asked the High Court to overturn the prosecutors' decision, as well as the British government's decision to extradite him.

Judges are due to rule on both points later this month.