Lauri Love Wins Extradition Appeal Over U.S. Hacking Charges

(Bloomberg) -- Lauri Love, a U.K. computer activist accused of hacking into U.S. government computers and stealing data, won his appeal against his extradition to America, after a High Court judge ruled he shouldn’t be tried abroad.

“It would not be oppressive to prosecute Mr. Love in England for the offenses alleged against him,” Judge Ian Burnett said while overturning a decision that Love must be sent to the U.S. to stand trial. “If proven, these are serious offenses indeed.”

Love was arrested in the U.K. in 2013 and accused by the U.S. of stealing “massive amounts” of confidential data from government agencies and departments including the U.S. Army and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. 

At his extradition hearing in June 2016, a court heard how Love, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, could be a suicide risk if he was extradited. In September of that year, a magistrate ruled that he should be sent to the U.S. to face charges.

Liberty, a human rights group that intervened in the case, said those suspected of committing crimes in the U.K. should be tried in Britain, “not packed off to foreign courts and unfamiliar legal systems.”

Love’s case is akin to that of Gary McKinnon, who also has Asperger’s and was accused of hacking into U.S. military computers. McKinnon ultimately avoided extradition in 2012 after then-Home Secretary Theresa May said there was "such a high risk of him ending his life," it would be against his human rights to send him to the U.S.

To contact the reporters on this story: Hannah George in London at hgeorge13@bloomberg.net, Jeremy Hodges in London at jhodges17@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Christopher Elser, Flavia Krause-Jackson

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