The London Mayor, Boris Johnson, is right to highlight the injustice of Gary McKinnon's impending extradition under the unjust and non-reciprocal treaty with the USA.
It is similar to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW), that does not allow prima facie evidence to be considered and leaves British courts effectively powerless to prevent extradition. Under the EAW extradition to any EU member state has become a mere formality,irrespective of the merits of the case.
The case of 19-year-old London man Andrew Symeou aptly demonstrates this. Mr Symeou faces extradition to Greece on a manslaughter charge,the evidence for which would not stand up for five minutes in a British court. He faces years in a Greek jail, awaiting trial with no prospect of bail.
Both of these cases show that the British legal system must once again have the power to deny extradition when the courts or the Home Secretary decide on the basis of the evidence presented to them that there is not a proper case to answer or that an injustice is about to be done.
Parliament should immediately pass legislation to enable the courts to protect our own citizens, irrespective of any existing extradition treaties.
GERARD BATTEN MEP
UK Independence Party London
