AN alleged hacker battling extradition to the US claims he wants to reassert the sovereignty of the British justice system.
Former University of Glasgow student Lauri Love, 31, is wanted in America over allegations he stole data from the US army, the US Federal Reserve, the FBI and Nasa.
The Asperger’s sufferer, who faces 99 years in jail if convicted, is fighting extradition to the US under human-rights legislation.
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After his extradition hearing finished yesterday, Mr Love said he was confident there would be an outbreak of common sense and the court would rule in his favour in September.
Outside London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court and flanked by supporters, Mr Love said: “We hope and optimistically believe that the court will rule against extradition because it is not in the interest of justice to send someone to a country they have never been where they might spend the rest of their life in jail.
“We hope that there will be a sudden outbreak of common sense and we can all celebrate in September, and reassert the sovereignty of the British justice system — the fact that we have a sense of fair play, certain things are not cricket, like locking people up for silly reasons.”
During the hearing, defence lawyer Ben Cooper argued Mr Love may not be able to cope in the US, and would be unable to stand trial.
But Peter Caldwell, prosecuting, dismissed this, and disputed the severity of his medical condition.
Mr Love said: “In a way the barrister for the CPS, representing America, had the hardest job in the room which was to argue the unarguable. His job was to call into dispute the evidence. Unfortunately he is not a medical professional. The US did not bring a case, they did not bring a single witness.
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“They did not attempt to refute the claims that I might suffer from a ridiculous sentence, that I might be treated inhumanely, that I might be effectively tortured because of my mental-health difficulties.
“So it was harrowing to suffer the insinuation that I might have made this all up.
“I have wrestled with mental-health difficulties all my life. But that is part of this game. And I do not think the court was swayed by those arguments.”
Mr Love, a vicar’s son, is accused of stealing thousands of personal details of government employees from the US Federal Reserve, the US Army, the FBI and Nasa.
Earlier, Mr Caldwell, representing the US, told the court 36,000 people had been affected by the hacking. He said Mr Love had undermined the US authorities, as well as caused harm to individual victims. He dismissed claims that Mr Love could stand trial in the UK, because not all the evidence would be available.
District Judge Nina Tempia will return her judgment on September 16. Mr Love, of Newmarket, Suffolk, was bailed on the conditions he reports to a police station twice a week and does not apply for international travel documents.
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Mr Love was a high-profile figure in the eight-month occupation of the Hetherington Building at the University of Glasgow in 2011 as part of a campaign against cuts.
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