Sting and his wife Trudie Styler have spoken out in support of a British hacker who allegedly hacked into U.S. Pentagon computers in 2001 and 2002. The hacker, Gary McKinnon, has been trying to avoid being sent to the U.S. for a trial on the charges by signing a confession in the U.K. and claiming that his diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome should prevent his extradition.
“It’s a travesty of human rights that Gary McKinnon finds himself in this dreadful situation,” Sting told the Mail. “The US response in relation to the true nature of Gary’s crime is disproportionate in the extreme. Gary is even contemplating suicide because of his fear of incarceration as a terrorist in a US jail. The British Government is prepared to hand over this vulnerable man without reviewing the evidence.”
McKinnon, 45, rejected a 2003 plea bargain for 6 months to a year in U.S. prison. He was caught by British and U.S. intelligence after allegedly leaving the following message on a military computer, while claiming to be searching for evidence of a UFO cover-up: “U.S. foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism these days…. It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year … I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels.”