Conservatives lose Gary McKinnon extradition battle

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The Conservative Party's call for the Government to review hacker Gary McKinnon's extradition to the US has been defeated in the House of Commons.

During an opposition day debate, the Conservatives called for a review of McKinnon's case and the unbalanced extradition treaty between the UK and the US.

As it stands, the US doesn't have to provide any evidence to back an extradition request, whereas the UK does if it wants to extradite from the US.

The calls did not sway Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who told Parliament that he could not intervene: "The Home Secretary is legally obliged to order extradition except where there is a possibility that the person could be sentenced to death, where there are inadequate arrangements, or if the person to be extradited has previously been extradited from another country."

He further ruled out any review of the extradition treaty by this Government, after the Conservative motion to do just that was defeated.

McKinnon is charged with hacking US computer networks 97 times. He faces 70 years in jail if extradited, though his case is under judicial review by the Royal Courts of Justice.

Click here for a timeline of the Gary McKinnon case.

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