Saving Gary McKinnon (23 page)
Read Saving Gary McKinnon Online
Authors: Janis Sharp
T
he Olympic Games opened on 27 July and the ceremony was truly spectacular. It was much more impressive than I could ever have imagined and had such a positive atmosphere,
bringing
people inside and outside of the country together, and drew towards its finale with the uplifting and emotive music of ‘Eclipse’ from
Dark Side of the Moon
by Pink Floyd.
As David Gilmour and his family had helped Gary so much this was a meaningful moment for us.
Theresa May said that she would be giving her decision on Gary after the Olympics and for some reason the opening ceremony made us feel more optimistic about the future.
Wilson had recently had an operation and had to rest. I was relieved that he had managed to get his operation performed on 22 May, as opposed to the initial suggestion of 1 August, a date nicknamed Black Wednesday, as the death rate apparently goes up hugely as all the new, inexperienced hospital doctors start work on that same day.
Our dog Jackson suddenly became ill after a long walk in the woods. He couldn’t lift or turn his head, refused to eat and just lay on the floor as though he was dying. We took him to the vet, who, after doing blood tests, listening to his heart and checking
him over, suggested he should have an MRI scan that would cost a minimum of £1,500.
I couldn’t believe the amount of money being charged for an MRI. It wasn’t as though he was an Olympic athlete; he was our dog.
I got in touch with our friend John Davis, who used to work as a vet for the Blue Cross animal hospital in Victoria and went on to have his own practice. He was the one who’d passed on my letter to his neighbour, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. Here I was asking John for help again, even though I hadn’t seen him for years, but that’s the thing about real friends: it doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you’ve seen them, you know that you would always help each other no matter what.
Coincidentally, John had recently had the same experience with his own dog and told me to ask the vet for anti-
inflammatories
, as, combined with a lot of rest, they had sorted his dog out. So I did, and by the last day of the Olympics Jackson was well again and could run like the wind.
I discovered later that there’s a mysterious illness which dogs in certain areas of the UK were contracting immediately after a walk in the woods. Many of them died from it so I’m extremely grateful to John.
• • •
I had to work harder than ever on Gary’s case as we were
perilously
close to the end. I couldn’t afford take my eye off the finish line for a second, as the life-saving marathon I’d been running had yet to be won.
The Paralympics was next and London was buzzing with excitement and anticipation.
Julian Assange had taken refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy on 19 June after he lost his bid to reopen his appeal.
On 15 August the UK had apparently threatened to storm the Ecuadorian embassy and some of Julian Assange’s
supporters
who were protesting outside the embassy were arrested. This shocked people, as asylum is a right that has historically been respected by civilised nations.
On 4 September there was a Cabinet reshuffle and my MP, Grant Shapps, was made co-chairman of the Conservative Party and minister without portfolio in the Cabinet Office. While many ministers and MPs were in Westminster, awaiting that all-important call, Grant was here in Hertfordshire, working for his constituents with no expectation of promotion.
Grant Shapps has had his fair share of misfortune. He was in a car crash in the US which left him in a coma; he recovered but later developed cancer and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His family shed tears but again he recovered, and after receiving chemotherapy his children were conceived by IVF.
Grant clearly adores his family, not to mention his cat and dogs, one of which was difficult to manage and was left with him by a friend. I think that people who have gone through personal tragedy often have more empathy for others whose backs are against the wall. Grant is a bit different from other MPs. His cousin is Mick Jones, a former member of punk rock bands The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite. Apparently Grant does a good rendition of ‘Rapper’s Delight’, with the odd punk rock song thrown in, at karaoke sessions held in the Houses of Parliament.
Shame there aren’t any tickets on sale to the public, as that would be an event worth seeing. I wonder which other MPs are included in the line-up.
• • •
I decided to write to David Cameron and Theresa May, but I didn’t know how to make sure that my letter would be seen and read by them. For inspiration I watched Gary’s favourite video, ‘The Most Astounding Fact in the Universe’, on YouTube. It always helps me put things in perspective. The music is wonderful and the entirety of this film fills my soul;
especially
the knowledge that the atoms in the human body came from the stars.
I sat at my computer to write the following letter from my heart:
Dear Theresa and David,
As you are aware, my son Gary McKinnon, who has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism, was arrested in London in March 2002 for computer misuse and has now been under virtual house arrest for over ten years while fighting extradition to the US.
People find it hard to believe that this can be happening in Britain in the year 2012 but happening it is.
Gary was arrested more than ten years ago for allegedly hacking into NASA and Pentagon computers from his bedroom in London while searching for evidence of UFOs and Free Energy that Gary believed was being suppressed by the American government. It’s true that Gary left cheeky cyber-notes telling the US that their security was virtually non-existent and that he’d continue disrupting by leaving cyber-notes until someone at the top listened to him and installed passwords and firewalls that should have been there in the first place to protect their systems but weren’t.
To his detriment Gary also left a cyber-note saying that American foreign policy was akin to state-sponsored terrorism.
Had this been scrawled on a wall few would have noticed and to a young man with Asperger’s syndrome, telling the truth as he saw it was as natural as getting out of bed in the morning. However, Gary had now not only embarrassed the US by
highlighting
their lack of any basic security, but he had angered them.
No one, but especially someone with Asperger’s, could ever have realised the horrendous consequences that would arise from a country whose first amendment is one of free speech, or that an extradition treaty with America, yet to be written, could allow him (without any evidence being presented to a British court) to be forcibly removed from his home, his family and all that he has ever known, to be taken to a foreign land where he could be incarcerated in a foreign prison for up to sixty years of his life, for a crime that, according to the British Hi-Tech Crime Unit in 2002, would have been likely to attract a sentence of six months’ community service in Britain.
My son has now been under arrest for longer than any British citizen ever has. He hasn’t raped anyone, he hasn’t murdered anyone, so can’t understand how this can be
happening
to him, as no matter how much anyone may choose to exaggerate his crime, the fact is that his crime was tapping on a keyboard in his bedroom in north London in search of information on Free Energy, Anti-Gravity and reversed
technology
from Alien spaceships from outer space.
Ten years of being in a constant state of fear while fighting to stop my son Gary being taken from his home and family has made the days, months and years indistinguishable from each other, as hopes raised to the heavens come crashing down to earth on a regular basis.
We were elated when, in a bid to have Gary tried in the UK, you, our Prime Minister, raised Gary’s case with President Obama during your first televised joint worldwide press
conference in America in 2010, and when President Obama said an appropriate solution would be found, we were moved to tears. We waited and waited and waited, but the months passed and nothing happened.
We were again ecstatic when you raised Gary’s case with President Obama for a second time during your second joint worldwide press conference in London in 2011, but in spite of President Obama stating that it was a British decision that America would respect and despite great expectations from all who heard, and constantly being congratulated by strangers in the street, nothing happened.
When Gary’s MP David Burrowes asked the American ambassador why the US was still pursuing Gary, he ended his answer with: ‘He mocked us.’ (http://www.londontv.net/exradition-debate-2011.html)
I wrote to the Queen during her Diamond Jubilee to ask her to bestow the gift of mercy on my son, who was arrested before even her Golden Jubilee began ten years prior, but in a response from Buckingham Palace it seems only our government are privy to the Queen’s powers, which she herself is unable to use, as she can only act on the advice of her government.
I constantly write letters in the hope that the pen really is mightier than the sword and that I can reach souls of courage and compassion in the heart of our government, who can put an end to this decade of mental torture.
Whether the rain falls or the sun shines means little anymore, as we live in this unreal world where Gary sits in the dark and I spend each day and night until the early hours of the morning working on trying to save my son from virtual death. I no longer have any other conversation as I’m unable to escape from this mental imprisonment grounded in fear.
I am hoping with all my heart that Theresa May, our Home
Secretary, who I believe is a strong woman, will have in her heart the courage and compassion that will allow her to do what is right and to give my son his life back.
Gary has lost more than ten years of his life and as his case draws closer to the end, the deterioration in his mental health is marked, as the mental torture becomes increasingly intolerable.
Gary does not deserve to be driven to suicide, or to suffer
irreversible
damage to his mental health, or to face the prospect of ending his life in a foreign prison or being confined to a mental institution for fifty years and dying there as my grandmother did.
Gary does not deserve either a real or a virtual death sentence. I do not deserve to lose my only child.
I pray that one day I will see the light return to my son’s eyes and that this seemingly never-ending torture will soon come to an end.
As Aung San Suu Kyi made her historic return to Britain and spoke to both our Houses of Parliament, seeing the strength she portrayed in her struggle for the freedom of her country, and the sacrifices she made while
standing
up to an oppressive government, will hopefully have inspired our government to once again become leaders of a proud and sovereign nation who is prepared to stand up, speak out and fight for the values that our forefathers fought and died for, including the rights and the protection of the most vulnerable in our society.
If our government is afraid to make a right and just
decision
for fear of upsetting our friends then something is wrong with that friendship which must be put right, or we as a nation are allowing our people to be enslaved, making us unable to command respect that by its very nature has to be earned.
Aung San Suu Kyi has earned the respect of the world and will go down in history as a woman of courage who was not
afraid to stand up for the rights, freedoms and civil liberties of the Burmese people.
I pray that one day her country will attain the freedom and democracy she craves, and that our country will remember who they are and will strive to regain and retain the rights and
freedoms
we have sacrificed in order to appease another nation.
We are now at the final hurdle and it takes strength and courage to make that final jump, but jump it we must, if we are to emerge with dignity and self-respect.
Our government’s first duty is to protect British citizens, including our most vulnerable. Please have the strength to do what is right and to give my son his life back.
With deepest respect,
Janis Sharp (Gary McKinnon’s mum)
After I’d written my letter I was racking my brains trying to think of how I could get it into the hands of the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary. Knowing how busy they were, I didn’t know if they would even be able to take the time to read it, especially as the Paralympics was ongoing and the grand closing ceremony was almost upon us.
I then thought that if it was an open letter printed in the newspaper that the PM and the Home Secretary would hear about it and would be more inclined to read it.
I emailed my letter to Duncan Campbell of
The Guardian
and the paper published it in its ‘Comment is Free’ section on 7 September.
The Guardian
got more than 400 positive responses to my letter so I was hopeful that David Cameron and Theresa May would read it.
The Paralympics ended two days later and everyone agreed that it was the best Paralympics ever. People in the UK were so proud, and new stars and role models were produced who did
endless TV interviews. It was heartening to see disabled athletes at last being valued in the same way that able-bodied athletes were. There was new hope that the world really was changing.
I was getting nervous again, as now that the Olympics and the Paralympics were both over, Theresa May would be making her decision. We were informed that it would be given on or before 16 October, but that meant it could be announced virtually any time.
Gary’s MP, David Burrowes, took the opportunity to
spectacularly
raise Gary’s case yet again on 18 September, the day Parliament went into recess for a month.
Mr David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con)
: Following the theme of relying on assurances and promises given, I want to talk about my constituent Gary McKinnon. I welcome the Deputy Leader of the House, who will respond to the debate. He is in a good position to do so, having been on the picket line, in effect, to protest about the treatment of Gary McKinnon. Earlier this year he tweeted: ‘DC must intervene on medical grounds to stop extradition proceedings.’
I could not put it better myself, and I hope that his response will echo that statement. In making it, he is in good company. The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Justice Secretary, the Attorney General and the Minister for Policing and Criminal Justice have all stood shoulder to shoulder with others in the House, and others who have not been able to come here today, who stand alongside Gary McKinnon and the many campaigners on his behalf.
This could be, and I hope that it is, the last debate that we need to have on Gary McKinnon before a decision is finally made. The Prime Minister has said: ‘Gary McKinnon is a vulnerable young man and I see no compassion in sending him thousands of miles away from his home and loved ones to face trial.’
In 2009, the Deputy Prime Minister said: ‘It is certainly wrong to send a vulnerable young man to his fate in the United States when he could and should be tried here instead. It is simply a matter of doing the right thing.’
He went on to say: ‘Government ministers have let this sorry saga drag on for seven years, heaping misery on Mr McKinnon, his family and his supporters.’
We are now ten years into the sorry saga, with misery still heaped on Mr McKinnon, his family and his supporters. The Deputy Prime Minister also said in 2009: ‘It would be fair and it would be right to try Mr McKinnon in Britain. But the clock is ticking. The Prime Minister just needs to pick up the phone to make this prosecution happen. I urge him to do so, before it is too late.’
The Attorney General asked the Conservative Party Conference: ‘Can someone tell me how counter-terrorism will be served by extraditing Gary McKinnon to the United States for hacking into government computers in search of UFOs?’
The new Justice Secretary has said: ‘I hope the House of Commons will send a message to the government that really this is not what the extradition system is supposed to do. These new rules were set up for very serious offences, for terror offences. I don’t believe Parliament ever intended them to be used to extradite somebody with autism issues to face a charge like this.’
Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)
: I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman’s dedication over a long period in sticking up for his constituent, and I join him in what he is saying. Does he agree that it beggars belief that this has taken so long and we still do not have a decision? Does he agree that millions of people – the vast majority throughout the United Kingdom – want this case to end in justice for Gary McKinnon and his
family and to put an end, once and for all, to the ridiculous idea that he should be sent to the United States?
Mr Burrowes
: I pay tribute to the hon. Lady, who has been very much an hon. Friend in the campaign over many years. Indeed, ten years is an extraordinary time for someone to have his life hanging by a thread. Countless people are alongside my constituent and this must end – it must happen.
I wanted to bring the debate to the House because after today we are not sitting for a while and this is the time when we must reflect on why a decision has not been made, promises have not yet been kept and justice has not yet been delivered for Gary McKinnon.
New evidence has been submitted to the Home Office from Professor Murphy … and from Dr Vermeulen, Professor Jeremy Turk and Professor Baron-Cohen. All have concluded that Gary McKinnon is an extreme suicide risk. In April this year, Dr Vermeulen said that Gary McKinnon was unfit for trial and an extreme suicide risk.
Extradition ‘is suicide’.
The position is that we have had three 2012 face-to-face assessments. We therefore need to bear in mind the words of Professor Jeremy Turk, who has overseen the care of Gary McKinnon pretty much throughout. Professor Turk is an expert in Asperger’s and he said: ‘I am happy to go on record as believing that Gary has had an incredible number of most scholarly and expert opinions which are striking in their agreement and consensus … I see no indications, nor any utility, in exposing him to further evaluations, his single major need now being clarity regarding his status in relation to the spectre of extradition that continues to hang over him like a sword of Damocles.’
Perhaps people will say that a decision to keep Gary
McKinnon here would set a precedent. Perhaps the Home Office says that it would set a precedent for terrorists facing extradition. Let us consider other cases. Hacker Ryan Cleary admitted hacking into the Pentagon, NASA and the US Air Force. Aaron Caffrey [was charged with hacking] into US security systems and bringing the port of Houston to a halt immediately after 9/11. Like Gary McKinnon, both were accused of hacking; like him, both have autism and Asperger’s syndrome; but unlike him, both have been tried in the United Kingdom.
Let us consider the cases of Róisín McAliskey and Shawn Sullivan. Like Gary McKinnon, they faced extradition; unlike him, they faced extremely serious charges of terrorism and paedophilia and unlike him, they have had extradition requests refused. The only precedent being set by Gary McKinnon is that of facing the threat of extradition for ten years, living in conditions not far short of house arrest. It is more like what would happen to someone living in Burma than Britain. It would be unprecedented to extradite him in the face of such compelling medical evidence. It would be totally
disproportionate
when he could be tried in this country.
Can the Deputy Leader of the House assure us that the
time-scale
for a decision is not affected by the parliamentary or party conference timetable, bearing in mind that Gary McKinnon’s life is hanging by a thread? Now is the time to decide. There is compelling medical evidence that provides a basis for a
decision
not to extradite Gary McKinnon, and to deliver justice and keep our promises to him. The final word goes to his mother, and I agree with what she says: ‘Our government’s first duty is to protect British citizens, including our most vulnerable.’
There follow words to the Home Secretary: ‘Please have the strength to do what is right and to give my son’ – and my constituent – ‘his life back.’