First Published Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Warwick Ashford
Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour is to produce a new recording of the song Chicago by Graham Nash in support of London UFO fanatic and computer hacker Gary McKinnon.
Nash authorised a reworking of the song written for the “Chicago Seven”, who went on trial after the violent Democratic Party convention in that city in 1968, according to the Guardian.
Gilmour contributed to the backing track for a sing-in protest in April featuring the revised version of the song written by Gary’s mother, Janis Sharp.
Gilmour and Nash are among the celebrities still campaigning to halt McKinnon’s extradition to the US to stand trial for hacking into 97 US federal and military computers.
McKinnon is accused of causing at least £350,000 damage, but the hacker claims he broke into the computers only to find evidence of extra-terrestrial life.
Supporters, including Boris Johnson, David Blunkett, and several other MPs, say McKinnon should not be extradited because he is suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, an autistic condition.
Boyzone singer Keith Duffy has also expressed support for McKinnon. He said that as a parent of a child with autism, he knows that getting support at the right time can be crucial.
If convicted in the US, McKinnon faces up to 60 years in a high security prison. A conviction under the UK’s Computer Misuse Act carries a maximum penalty of five years.
Time is running out for McKinnon, who is likely to get his final shot at standing trial in the UK next month at a judicial review of home secretary Jacqui Smith’s decision to send him to the US.
McKinnon won the review after a judicial review in January ruled that Smith had failed to take adequate consideration of the hacker’s medical condition.
If next month’s bid fails, McKinnon could be sent immediately to the US.
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