We’ve seen that it is acceptable to extradite UK citizens to face the wrath of American justice even if they have a legitimate defence to offer to the UK courts. Even if they have the bare faced cheek to say to the foreign government “show us your evidence before we dispatch our people to you“.
No, the UK government says that defendants are probably guilty and should not be able to ‘game’ the system by protesting their innocence in order to delay a US lynch mob.
Of course if you are a crony of Tony, or his mates, a different set of rules apply. If, for example, you were a husband of a member of Tony Blair’s cabinet and you were accused of taking bribes then clearly it would be appropriate to fully examine the evidence before allowing extradition; to ensure natural justice and fairness was done, of course. It may well be that by doing so he will avoid an Italian trial: as the Times Online says;
One potential hurdle is that Mr Mills, if charged, may have to be extradited. If he chooses to challenge extradition the hearing could be fatally delayed.
Hang on!!: this was why Blair said UK citizens should be extradited to the US without awkward questions: to avoid them playing the system and avoiding justice. Or are we just talking about US justice? or are Tony’s mates subject to different set of rules than the rest of us prols?
[…] Geeklawyer is not standing up for McKinnon who clearly committed a criminal act and deserves to be punished. But while there is an argument for putting him on trial in the US there is also the same argument for doing so in the UK: he committed a criminal act in both jurisdictions and could be punished in either. So why is the US better? It seems more humanitarian, if you trust & respect the other country’s legal system, to let him rot in his own country’s jail where he is surrounded by his own people and can get visits. Not to mention letting that country pick up the tab for the jail term. Whatever the answer to that is; what pisses Geeklawyer off mightily is that here, yet again, we have an Englishman who is told by his government that he must face a foreign court without them having make a prima facie case to ours first unless he an persuade the Home Secretary not to send him. Frankly, writing a polite letter to the Home Secretary asking him to say ‘no’ to the Americans is a waste of good ink. And since when is a politician an appropriate substitute for a judge? […]