Extradition: America and the UK

[Gutterflower]

Hey all

I am not usually one to start such subjects that may cause a debate or an argument. but its something that caught my eye (or ear as i heard it on the radio first)

 

Today there was a British hacker who lost his appeal against extradition to the USA after he hacked into US military computers (allegedly in search of UFO evidence).

The US government eventually tracked him down and demanded extradition.

More info here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7532713.stm

 

Now in contrast there was a recent story where the US refused to extradite some US troops to the USA over a friendly fire incident. (not the first time it would appear) so they could stand trial in a UK court of law

More here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2343930.ece

 

Now I'm not pretending to be an expert on law and the finer details of these cases but to me this whole issue does currently seem to be a little one-sided and dare i say a little unfair.

personally i think they both should be extradited. And in the case of the hacker he should probably be employed

 

However I wonder

A) if the 2 cases has been reversed, would the outcomes of been the same?

B) the UK is now just showing its becoming the USA's whipping dog

 

Anyway its just something that caught my attention. any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Cheers

Dave

[mcjaco]

Just a pre-emptive warning. Let's keep this on topic, and away from political discussions.

[SteveC]

The UK government signed an agreement ( c. 2004) allowing UK citizens to be extradited to the US, the agreement was not wholly reciprocal when the finer detail was analysed subsequently, although the spirit of reciprocity was intended in principle.

 

I won't argue the merits of these cases, but I can confirm they are in line with our (UK) current laws and so I'm not too sure where this discussion can go other than into a flame of political 'bad ass'.

 

I do believe that if someone hacked into my works systems I would do my best to have them prosecuted, wherever they reside. I don't think this situation can be compared with matters of international conflict and all the 'separate' issues that that entails.