On the day of Gary McKinnon’s 45th Birthday
Today Gary McKinnon turns 45 years old. It’s hard to believe that The Boy Who Played with UFOs is five years short of 50; I have never met Gary in person but judging from recent photos, he could be in his mid-thirties. He does, however, look like a haunted man. Gary McKinnon has been trapped in Kafkaesque, hellish nightmare for almost 10 years now. He was 35 years old man when he took that stupid, stupid decision that would cost him his freedom and - almost - his sanity: hacking the servers of the US Military. That’s what it was, by the way: a stupid decision, a wrong decision. People make wrong decisions every day but imagine having to pay the consequences in the form of mental torture for a decade.
There are rapists, murderers and paedophiles who get away with a lesser sentence. Because, you see, they get ‘a’ sentence. Gary is suspended in limbo, waiting, forced to sit outside the Headmaster’s office waiting to know if he is going to be expelled, the dread prolonged for ten long, unbearable years. Gary has not been sentenced, but he has certainly been condemned to a purgatory of bureaucracy and red tape, a mess so abominable and so monstrous that it makes the court case in the Dickens’ novel ‘Bleak House’ appear as complicated as paying a fine on an overdue library book.
Gary is a prisoner.
Earlier today, I tweeted this to a friend: “I think I have lost my political naivety”. And it is true: I really have lost faith in our politicians. Both David Cameron and Nick Clegg expressed their support to Gary when they were in opposition. Clegg even appeared in front of the cameras, alongside Gary’s mother Janis Sharpe, sporting his best ‘concerned’ and ‘outraged’ face. He promised that he would help. He did just that: he looked at Janis in the eye and pledged his support.
Over a year has gone by and Nick Clegg is Deputy Prime Minister - the second in command of a Coalition Government that nobody wanted. His popularity has plunged to new depths as a consequence of raising tuition fees for higher education - a move in direct opposition to the Liberal Democrats’ election manifesto. It is fair to assume that he is probably one of Britain’s most despised and vilified men of the moment. So what better opportunity to redeem himself than to come out of hiding and renew his support - in public, in front of the cameras - for a cause that most people in Britain seem to support?
Let’s not forget David Cameron - the top man at No. 10. Is he so powerless, so spineless that he cannot go back to the US Authorities and say ‘Gary stays’? After all, Gordon Brown - another former straw man of unpopularity - had tried (and failed) to stop the extradition proceedings, but was shamefully ignored by the Americans; a fact that has only recently been made public thanks to Wikileaks.
In the meantime, Theresa May, the Home Secretary (yet another Home Secretary: Gary’s been through Home Secretaries like Elizabeth Taylor gets through husbands) has ordered yet another ‘expert assessment’ of this tormented man. Everybody who knows about Gary’s case also knows that he has been assessed by the UK’s leading authorities in autism spectrum disorders. This looks nothing but yet another stalling technique. The Government is moving Gary around its treacherous political chessboard like a powerless pawn; it pretends to have a master plan but in reality is doing absolutely nothing. The truth is that, once again, Gary McKinnon has been betrayed by yet another bunch of despicable, cynical and dishonest politicians. Once again, and for God knows how much longer, Gary McKinnon has been hung out to dry.
The only saving grace of this prolonged ordeal is that Gary is still here. Despite my complete lack of faith now in our political class, I still deep down refuse to believe that Cameron and Clegg would allow a mentally unstable man to be physically dragged out of his house, put on a plane and shipped over to the US authorities. If anything, the case is now too high profile to be swept under the carpet. If there is one thing that politicians fear, is bad publicity. Let’s hope the ghost of Marley visits them before the worst case scenario is allowed to unfold.
And to Gary, what can one say on his 45th birthday? Happy Birthday? What reason is there for him to be happy? The banality of birthday wishes almost seems to me inappropriate, if not distasteful. Maybe the only really true words that we can say to Gary McKinnon today is - “Gary, you are still Solo, but you are not alone. With much love from a complete stranger, who wants to see you free.”
http://freegary.tumblr.com/post/3219801911/45#
cliffsull said on
http://tweetstorm4gary.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/httpwww-youtube-comwatchvak3w...
February 11, 2011 at 9:13 pm
In response to Mark on February 9, 2011 at 4:44 pm:
http://globalfree.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/digi-activism-tweetstorms.pdf# What time and to which @addresses or @people?
It begins at 12 midnight on Sat.12th February until midnight after and all tweets are at @ukhomeoffice @nick_clegg and one other who will be named on the event.
Also a few tweets at Mr W.J. Hague…..I look forward to your participation and thank you in advance – You’re a star! ;)
Hope for a free and happy next birthday for you Gary and family
