Interviews with Jerry Pippin
and
Special Correspondent, Kerry Cassidy

LATEST NEWS UPDATES:

To read the 7/6/06 AP News Story on Gary's Extradition. US Government Claims of Damages are outrageous. Let us hope that Gary is tried in New Jersey Federal Court. His maximum sentence, if convicted there, would be 5 years. Of course we all hope that that extradition will be blocked and, barring that, he will not be found guilty of the crimes with which he is to be charged.

Jerry Pippin and Jerry Pippin Show Special Correspondent, Kerry Cassidy, conducted a two part audio and video interview with Gary McKinnon, UK resident, who is accused of hacking into reportedly unsecured US Government computer systems looking for information about UFOs and government cover-ups several years ago, at a pub at an undisclosed location in London on Friday, 6/8/06. Jerry interviewed Gary for this special Internet Radio report from there by telephone, and he brings out a side of McKinnon not presented by the other radio talk shows.

This special On-Demand program also features Ms. Cassidy's video interview with Gary, special pictures of Gary not available anywhere else, and even a spot light on his entertainment background, including two recorded songs that he both wrote and performs. These interviews present the human side of Gary, who is much more than a midnight hacker in a bathrobe, who has been targeted as an example by the US Government.

Personal Background Information
Gary and his Family

Gary comes from a talented family. Within the family enterprise, he has demonstrated talent as both an actor and a musician, along with having been trained and employed as a computer systems administrator. Below you can listen to two songs he wrote and performed for the movie, Lunar Girl, which was a family production, directed by, Janis Sharp, his mother, and produced and filmed by Wilson Sharp, his father. Gary also played a character in this movie. It has had a wide screening, with great reviews in the UK. It is also available on DVD.

A Mother's Statements

Update 7/30/07:

Hi Jerry,

Just to let you know that we have just received an email from Gary's solicitor that "we got leave for house of lords!"

Fingers crossed!

Janis

McKinnon earns Lords appeal Pentagon hacker in legal victory

By John Leyden
Published Tuesday 31st July 2007 10:30 GMT, The Register

Gary McKinnon, the British hacker facing extradition over allegations he broke into US Military and NASA sites, has earned the right to take his case to the House of Lords.

The law Lords agreed to hear arguments that US authorities acted in an "oppressive" and "arbitrary" manner during plea bargaining negotiations, for example by allegedly threatening McKinnon over the loss of rights to serve part of his sentence in the UK unless he submitted to voluntary extradition.

The House of Lords was not bound to consider McKinnon's final appeal - for example it declined to hear the appeal of the NatWest Three bankers, so the Lords' decision is a significant fillip for McKinnon and his legal team.

Gary's lawyers were allowed to petition the House of Lords (not all the hundreds of Peers of the Realm who sit in the upper legislative chamber of Parliament, but the half a dozen or so Law Lords, the most senior Judges in the United Kingdom) on two points of law.

The legal Question which appears to have been rejected, is the same point which Babar Ahmad's legal team were trying to make about the dubious unsigned Diplomatic Notes issued by the US Embassy, promising a Federal civilian trial, rather than a Military Tribunal, even though it is plain that only the US President can make such a decision, and he can change his mind at any time, regardless of what the US State Department promises.

"Gary McKinnon is delighted to learn of this important development," his barrister, Ben Cooper of Charter chambers, told The Guardian. McKinnon is fighting against extradition to the US on hacking offences after losing an appeal in April. Only the Law Lords now stand between the Scot and a US trial for allegedly breaking into and damaging 97 US government computers between 2001 and 2002 and causing an estimated $700,000 worth of damage, in what US authorities have described as the "biggest military" computer hack ever.

The former sys admin, who lives in London, admits he infiltrated computer systems without permission but disputes the seriousness US authorities attach to his attacks.

The 41-year-old has said he gained access to military networks - using a Perl script to search for default passwords - but describes himself as a bumbling amateur motivated by curiosity about evidence of UFOs rather than a cyberterrorist.

McKinnon and his team have consistently argued that he ought to be tried in the UK. No date has been set for the House of Lords hearing. In the meantime, McKinnon remains on bail.

Update 4/3/06:

Hi Jerry,

just to let you know that Gary sadly lost his appeal in court yesterday (3rd April) Next step is an appeal to the House of Lords.

We are now very worried as they now appear to be treating Gary as a cyber terrorist and he could end up imprisoned for the rest of his life. (I think they want to try Gary in Virginia)

Unfortunately under this new "treaty" Gary's legal team cannot rebut any so called "evidence" provided in secret to the judges by the US government.

Prima facie evidence is no longer required for a British citizen to be extradited; only allegations are called for. Now what sort of Justice is that?

Gary's hard drives were taken to America approx. five years ago and I just don't trust anything that is happening at the moment.

Thank you for your continual support. There are so many good Americans out there who spend their lives fighting for justice but unfortunately the current US administration has clouded the vision of many people in the world and they have forgotten this.

Primarily because of Tony Blair & George Bush' stance on Iraq etc there is a strong possibility that Scotland is going to vote for the Scottish Nationalists in May and Scotland would then become a separate and independent country; now wouldn't that be interesting.

We personally doubt whether the UK government would stand for this, despite "encouraging" other countries throughout the world to declare their independence....but they can't bomb Scotland into submission....can they? With the way our world is going nothing would surprise me.

Scotland voted against the unratified Extradition treaty with America but unless the Scottish Nationalists are voted in this remains only a token vote....May will be an interesting month.

I have attached the press release issued by Gary's lawyers. to read. to read the BBC article on the judgment announcement.

Take care Jerry, Kerry & Larry & Thank You!

Kindest Regards,

Janis (Gary's mum)

Update 12/9/06: Gary's appeal hearing is due to take place on 13th February, 2007, which will be the fifth year since he was first arrested. Gary has been more down than usual (as are we). He had some prior knowledge of the info you sent us [Jerry sent information on the latest anti-terrorism acts passed by Congress and signed by Bush], but the reality of what can now be done to people is terrifying.

I have no problems with long sentences for vicious crimes but it puzzles me how seriously violent criminals are allowed to continue to walk the streets, while gentle people like Gary have a sixty year sentence hanging over them. The political changes taking place in the US are good, but unfortunately I don't think it will help Gary.

Update 7/21/06: Just to let you all know that Gary (McKinnon) is on Richard & Judy this evening (Friday 21st July).

Some of the Tabloids including the Sun have done double page spreads with very fair account of Gary and the ludicrous extradition treaty.

Labour MP's and cross party Italian Parliamentarians from the new Italian Government have signed and presented a letter to John Reid opposing Gary's extradition.

David Cameron has invited Gary to his house next week.

Thank you for all of your support; maybe at last people are realizing the injustice that is happening re-the unreciprocated extradition treaty.

Kindest Regards,

Janis (Gary's mum)

Update 7/13/06: Yesterday, 12th July in the House of Commons, there was a heated debate against this new extradition "treaty". 248 MP's voted against the fast track extradition treaty that requires no Prima Facie evidence to be produced and only four MP's voted for it. This was a huge defeat for the Government; especially coming on the heels of the vote from the House of Lords against this treaty on 11th July. The law hasn't changed however, as this will have to go back to the House of Commons in October before the law can be changed.

I've been writing to every MP that I can and got this incredible letter back from Alan Simpson Member of Parliament.

You will see that the new Italian Government have come out against our government on behalf of Gary.

Fifteen members of our government also handed in a letter of support for Gary; in addition to the 248 MP's that voted against the treaty.

The banker being found dead we thought was very sad; which followed on the heels of an American Banker connected to Enron also being found dead recently. Their families must be devastated.

The Nat West 3 have just been extradited for charges connected with the Enron affair but already someone who I think was from the US prosecution, said that additional charges of Conspiracy and Money Laundering will probably be added.

That's what worries us about Gary; that additional charges might be dreamed up if he were extradited.

I wonder if the Italian Government are UFO researchers? Good that they're supporting Gary.

See Letter below:

Dear Janis,

I am very sorry for your current situation and understand it must be a source of tremendous worry. Yesterday Alan Simpson MP and Jeremy Corbyn MP delivered a letter of protest from a group of Italian parliamentarians to the Home Office about your son Gary, as they do not believe he is guilty of terrorism and think that he should not be deported but charged here in the UK under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. Please see a copy of Alan's covering letter (attached) which was signed by 15 Labour MPs.

I would like to send your email on to a newspaper, which is covering the story probably on Saturday. Please do let me know if you have any objections to this.

I understand that the Secretary of State signed Gary's extradition order on the 4th of July, this gives Gary 14 days from this date to launch an appeal (Tuesday 18th). I do not know if you are already in the process of launching an appeal, but a possible defence could come under the Human Rights Act and the right to a family life. This is a possible line of defence that I came across from Liberty, the civil rights organisation. Their number is: 020 7403 3888.

There was also a debate in the House of Commons yesterday about the Extradition Treaty we have with the US. Many MPs feel this arrangement is not reciprocal or balanced due to the fact that no evidence is required, as you stated in your email. Gary was mentioned in the debate, you can read it at this address:    http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm060712/debt ext/60712-0887.htm#06071247000001

I hope this has been of some use to.

Best wishes,

Paul May
Parliamentary Researcher to Alan Simpson MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
Tel: 0207 219 4534
Fax: 0207 219 4657

Update 7/11/06:

I thought you should know that Peers in the House of Lords have just voted to remove the United States from the current Extradition act and want the government to refuse to send anyone to the US until they ratify the treaty. America will quite rightly never do this as it is against their constitution.

The UK government were heavily defeated by 218 votes to 116 votes. The Treaty will now go back to the House of Commons but any change won't take place until October.

There is an emergency debate to take place in the House of Commons tomorrow. I think some powerful people are trying to stop the Nat West 3 from being extradited at the 11th hour and all of this will help Gary.

This is hopeful and I believe the tide is turning. Gary's appeal will probably be delayed and hopefully the law will be changed in time for him to remain in the UK.

Gary has no qualms about being tried in the UK and would welcome it. Sentences in the UK for this type of thing are considerably shorter and time is served in an open prison or by doing community service; which involves helping old people and in Gary's case; possibly teaching underprivileged children computer skills.

A policeman at the demo outside the Royal Courts of Justice Today, whispered that he was on Gary's side and wishes him well. He then shook hands with us.

We at last have some hope in our hearts. Thank you so much for all of your help and incredible support and please thank all of your listeners/viewers.

Every bit of help from everyone has helped to bring this about.

Very Best Wishes !!!

And, Thank you

Janis, Gary & Wilson

Update 7/6/06: Please also thank your listeners/viewers who have sent letters of support for Gary, as the Home Secretary has received letters from all over the world, the bulk of which are from the UK and the US. Apparently Gary's case is being raised by the Conservative party in the House of Commons today. Very Best Wishes and thank you again.

Janis, Gary & Wilson

Thought I should let you know that John Reid the Home Secretary has decided to extradite Gary to the US. This is despite having told Gary's solicitors that they were inundated with letters of support for Gary. For a second time the Home Office wrote to Gary's solicitors saying they had far too many letters of support for Gary for them to be able to even begin to answer them all.

They've apparently had much more letters of support for Gary than for anyone else facing a similar fate, yet Tony Blair is trying to help only the Enron/Nat West bankers. One rule for the rich it seems, or maybe our politicians are all aliens.

BBC News 24 spoke up for Gary and took one of our politicians to task for only supporting the Enron/Nat West 3 Bankers. The BBC have been brilliant but we're incredibly worried.

An emergency appeal is the next stage.

Janis (Gary's mum)

Update 6/21/06: Things don't look very promising for Gary, as our government appears to be using this one sided excuse for a treaty to extradite mainly white collar workers, when it was supposedly introduced to extradite terrorists.

Three bankers, who worked for a British Bank were involved in the US ENRON affair, and the British Bank has no interest in prosecuting them. They were offered a deal by the US government if they gave evidence against an American employee of Enron. But, they refused to do this, and the "deal" was withdrawn. They are now to be extradited for prosecution  on charges of wire fraud.

I'm even more worried about Gary now that this announcement has come out from the Law Lords today.

Janis

The next step for Gary is waiting for John Reid, the Home Secretary, to decide if he will extradite Gary. If he says yes, then the next stage will be an appeal. That is why the Pledge on behalf of Gary, now successfully completed, and letters to John Reid are important. As Tony Blair only surrounds himself with yes men and women, I think John Reid's decision might not be favorable, but we have to try. Our government may choose to extradite my son Gary to face a possible seventy years in prison for unauthorized computer access/trespassing into US military computers.

Gary is my only child. We have a very small but very close family. There is no victim of this "crime", only an extreme lack of security. So, why do they want Gary so badly? Gary was looking for information on UFO's and free energy, which Gary believes is being covered up. There were no passwords and no firewalls on the computers he accessed. In other words, there was no security, and this was ten years after Mathew Bevan from the UK was accused by the US government, of committing exactly the same crime as Gary. So the US military have still not tightened their security. Mathew Bevan was not convicted in the UK, and he now runs his own internet security firm. Gary gained unauthorized access on his girlfriends very primitive computer which was on very slow dial up mode.

The UK police questioned Gary four years ago and the UK police said Gary would probably get six months community service but the UK Criminal Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute Gary at all. Gary had no prior convictions; he was not even fingerprinted and was free to go. He never discussed his computer intrusion, never gave interviews, never wrote about it; all he wanted was to be tried in his own country, which is the UK.. All we want is to have our lives back again. We have had this hanging over our heads for four years now.

Shortly afterwards the US indicted Gary, however it was not until almost four years later when the UK government stupidly signed a "treaty" with the US that the US could extradite UK citizens without the US having to provide any prima facie evidence, that Gary was arrested on behalf of the US. However, the UK cannot extradite any US citizens without providing Prima Facie evidence because the US has not signed the so called "treaty" and the US never will sign this excuse for a treaty because it is against the US constitution. So the UK extradites it's citizens on a one sided "treaty"; how then can it be called a treaty?

Apparently Americans like Tony Blair, well that's because they don't know that he does little to protect his own people and it seems as though George Bush is now running our country as well as running America. They choose to extradite my son for unauthorised computer access!!! It's ridiculous; this should absolutely not be an extraditable offence.

I greatly admire Cindy Sheehan, who has made a stand after losing her son in Iraq. How many mothers does it take for governments to see sense and to have a sense of justice. All I want is for my son to be tried in the UK in his own country, as is his human right.

Cindy Sheehan could possibly use to her advantage the knowledge that the US military had no passwords and no firewalls, therefore no security. I'm sure this would be very embarrassing for those in power and I think they should be glad that it was Gary who inadvertently alerted them to the incredible weaknesses in their security

I'm surprised that the Bush administration wants my son (and me) in America, as I'm sure most of the US population have no idea of jut how poor their military security is, even ten years after Mathew Bevan was accused of exactly the same crime as Gary.

What government would really want this to come out, all for the sake of prosecuting someone who got unauthorized access to their computers while using his girlfriends ancient computer on dial up mode. Now that is bound to be extremely embarrassing for the world's superpower. Gary even left his girlfriends email address behind which is how they caught him but only some time after he first "virtually" trespassed there. Gary denies causing any damage but the Us have to claim a certain amount of financial damage in order to extradite my son Gary.

We are heartbroken; we are extremely worried. All we want is for Gary to be tried in his own country.

We have been fortunate to have a lot of very good support from some extremely caring people in America, including Doctor Stephen Greer from the Disclosure Project and from Steve Bassett.

Yours Sincerely,

Janis (Gary's mum)