Summary: Alleged hacker Lauri Love of the UK has been ordered to face trial in the United States.
Accused hacker Lauri Love has been ordered to leave the United Kingdom and face trial in the United States. Love was allegedly a member of the Anonymous Collective, a group of hackers who fight for social justice.
Love, 31, is being accused of hacking into major U.S. entities such as the Federal Reserve, the FBI, and the Missile Defense Agency. The hack was a part of the #OpLastResort hack in 2013, which was made as retaliation against the suicide of hacker Aaron Swartz who killed himself while awaiting trial, according to Ars Technica. He faces up to 99 years in US prison on hacking charges.
Love’s extradition was requested by New Jersey, New York and West Virginia; and today, a Westminster judge (UK) ruled that he would be shipped to the United States for trial.
Westminster Judge Nina Tempia said that she was satisfied with her decision.
“There is a strong public interest that the United Kingdom should honor its extradition treaty obligations with other countries,” Tempia said.
Tempia added that Love had the option to appeal.
Love’s legal team is led by Ben Cooper and Doughty Street Chambers. They stated that because Love has Asperger Syndrome and depression he would struggle in the US prison system. They said that he should face trial in the UK, where his max sentence would have been two years and eight months.
According to Ars Technica, “The case was widely seen as a test of the so-called “forum bar” that would have allowed the courts to block extradition requests.” In the UK criminal system, a defendant has the opportunity to ask for a bar of their extradition in order to be tried in their home country. British extradition expert Edward Grange told Ars Technica that the forum bar protection was “illusory.”
Sarah Harrison, who runs Love’s legal defense fund, said his team will appeal.
Do you think Love should’ve been tried in the UK instead of being extradited? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Arts Technica
Photo courtesy of BBC