There have been a few extradition cases in the UK in 2012 which have caused heated debate. Some have involved British Citizens being extradited to the US. One man who was extradited was retired UK businessman Christopher Tappin. In most of the cases the person alleged of wrongdoing has had to plead guilty in order to escape a life term in a US prison. It has raised many concerns regarding the UK / US extradition treaty.

One qeustion in many of the cases is why can the person not be charged in the UK?. These people have not committed any crime on US soil and for some such as Richard O'Dwyer the offence was a "virtual" one.

In January 2012 we reported on the US attempt to extradite UK citizen Richard O'Dwyer to the USA. Richard was one of many British citizens wanted by the US authorities yet in most people's eyes he and others were not criminals. Any justice that they needed to face should have been possible in the UK. The extradition of UK citizens such as Richard and pensioner Christopher Tappin end up looking purely vindictive.

Richards's alleged "crime" was creating and operating a website. TV Shack offered links to sites where users could download movies and the like. He did not force visitors to the site, to follow the link nor recommend that they do so. He offered a go between service.

At the time of his arrest his actions were not illegal in the UK. That loophole has since been closed. However that is another reason his extradition to face US justice is nonsense. In our earlier report we wrote, "" under the so-called dual criminality rule, since he has not been charged for an offence in the UK, the US has no right to extradite him". The UK should respect this rule instead of simply handing Richard to the US,over like a lamb to the slaughter."  Six months later that still stands.

Yesterday it was made public that Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales had begun an online petition in the hope that Richard's extradition will be stopped. It is coped here with the necessary link which we hope you will follow and sign:

Stop the extradition of Richard O'Dwyer to the USA

Hi,

I am writing to you to stop the extradition of British citizen, Richard O'Dwyer to the USA.

I’m concerned about this case because O'Dwyer is not a US citizen, his site (TVShack.net) was not hosted there, and most of his users were not from the US. I don’t understand why America is trying to prosecute a UK citizen for an alleged crime which took place on UK soil. If there was a crime it should be investigated and tried here in the UK, not in the US.

When operating his site, Richard O'Dwyer was careful to always try and play by the rules: on the few occasions he received takedown notices, he complied. His site hosted links, like a search-engine does, not copyrighted content, and these were submitted by users. Both of these are protected in the USA.

Copyright is an important institution, serving a beneficial moral and economic purpose. But that does not mean that copyright can or should be unlimited. It does not mean that we should abandon time honored moral and legal principles to allow endless encroachments on our civil liberties in the interests of the moguls of Hollywood.

I’m aware that both parties in the coalition government criticised the unfair extradition treaty when in opposition, and more recently David Cameron and Theresa May have spoken of the need to review it.

But for Richard there’s no time for a lengthy review. The USA is pushing hard to extradite him now. So please, for Richard and his family stop this extradition.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

You can sign the petition here.

In the time it took to put this report together the petition increased from 40,000 signatures to 50,000. Good luck to Richard.

Tags: Extradition treaty with US, Richard O'Dwyer extradition, extradition from UK to US, Jimmy Wales petition, Wikipedia founder,TV shack creator, Stop Richard O'Dwyer extradition

65-year-old British business Christopher Tappin has been extradited from the UK today, February 24, 2012. It is alleged that he illegally exported weapons parts to Iran. It is claimed that there is a strong case against Mr Tappin who was apparently caught out in a US sting operation. Tappin maintained that the parts he was exporting were to be used in cars.

This article though is not so much about his alleged crimes but more about the injustice in the UK which leaves one of its citizens able to be extradited in such a way.

Mr Tappin has already drawn parallels between his case and that of foreign national Abu Qatada. Qatada is wanted in Jordan to face charges but his deportation to that country has been stopped by the EU court of Human Rights. Qatada is a citizen of Jordan whilst Mr Tappin is a British citizen who down the years has been a law abiding taxpayer. No such respite for him. Human rights courts have agreed to his deportation whist Qatada remains in the UK costing the country an estimated £10,000 a week.
Qatada has made his feelings about the UK and its citizens plain yet we continue to pussyfoot around him.

Mr Tappin is at a time in his life when he should be looking toward a quiet retirement. Mr Tappin cares for his wife Elaine. She has chronic Churg-Strauss Syndrome. Elaine tearfully went to the airport with her husband today.He was handcuffed and seated with two US Marshalls for his flight over to the US. Way to go US. Over the top as always. 

UK media reports today have carried this story and plenty of UK judges have shared their thoughts on this case. As they have said in the UK you are innocent until proven guilty. As soon as Mr Tappin set foot on the plane to the US today he was assumed guilty. 

What galls most is the US ridiculous plea bargaining system. Many other UK citizens extradited to the US have faced a threatened sentence of perhaps even 700 years in jail plus possible bankruptcy if their case fails as opposed to a couple of years in jail if they "cop a plea" or plea bargain.  Which would you choose? Obviously most people plea bargain as the only sensible way to guarantee returning home .However this means they cannot prove their innocence and neither can they have a fair trial with witness evidence. 

SkyNews has reported that at the airport Mr Tappin said he was not confident at all. He went on to say, "I won't be given leave to get any of my witnesses who are based in the UK because they are not allowed to testify in America by virtue of the fact they do not allow video interrogation. They have to appear personally. Unfortunately they will not appear in America so I don't know. I have certainly got enough facts to support my case but without the witnesses, their testimony, it's going to be very difficult. If I wanted anything, it was to be tried in the UK, not in America, because the Americans have never had to produce one piece of evidence. All the evidence shown to the court so far has come from our side. They have not had to produce any evidence whatsoever. We believe there is no evidence ... it's just an accusation. By virtue of an accusation they are allowed to extradite people from one country to another."

And why should he not face a UK court here in Great Britain? There was never a hope in mounting a winnable legal challenge against this man's extradition due to a treaty between the US and the UK which has been in operation since 2003. When he was in opposition David Cameron insisted that he would get this treaty changed or withdraw the UK from it. As yet he and his government have done nothing to improve the situation. 

As Mr Tappin said today,  "I was born in this country, I'm a taxpayer in this country, why can't you look after me? I need your protection."It's the one time in my life that I need your protection, yet you let me go into a brutal system which I don't know if I'll ever survive." Any UK judge is powerless in such a case. Basically if the information used for extradition satisfies the terms of the treaty, there's very little discretion for the Home Secretary, a minister, or the courts. 

US plea bargaining bears no relation to that in the UK. It would not be allowed in the same format in the UK. Added to this Mr Tappin looks set to be held in a Federal prison. Foreigners always are in the US in case they might try to flee the country. The family home is being sold to fund his legal costs. He faces a possible 35 year sentence if convicted which for him would be a life jail sentence. Obviously he will have to take the plea bargain option.

As more and more UK citizens are facing the gung ho attitude of the US it seemed likely that an E Petition ought to be started online. Checking the government website there is already one in place. The number of signatures right now is low.  The petition will be linked here and displayed on TEKJournalismUK for the foreseeable future. We should be looking to ourselves as well as hoping that justice is served for Mr Tappin. The might of the UK population needs to be thrown behind the petition to force the UK Parliament to debate this treaty and do the right thing.

Good luck is sent to the Tappin family.
Opinion:  Hilary Clintomn has been keen to ensure that Tappin is extradited to the US. He is charged with exporting batteries which could be used in Hawk air defence missiles. Hypocrisy from the so called Land of the Free. Is there any wonder that the US has become so hated around the world?
The Online petition asks to 
Withdraw from the Extradition Treaty with the United StatesResponsible department: Home Office
We call on parliament to immediately withdraw from the current Extradition Treaty with the United States until the following conditions are met:

-Equality in terms of strength of evidence with regards extradition of US citizens to the UK and from UK citizens to the US 
-No extradition for crimes not commited on American soil 
-The standard of evidence must be high enough for the Crown Prosecution Service to make a charge in the UK for extradition to take place. 
-The standards of prisoner treatment and sentencing meets the standards of the UK Human Rights Act.
If you agree please visit the petition and sign here