Nasa hacker has 'shut down', say protesters

The Home Office gave an official statement to ZDNet.co.uk about the reciprocity of its arrangement with the US.

"Extradition between the UK and US is governed by the Extradition Act 2003 and the 2003 UK/US Extradition treaty. These arrangements are fairly balanced, despite differences in terminology and procedures," stated a Home Office spokesperson. "There are strong safeguards in place in the Extradition Act 2003 which ensure that the courts and the home secretary consider a number of issues, such as human rights and double jeopardy before anyone is extradited from the UK to the US."

"'Probable Cause' is a requirement of the US Bill of Rights, which it cannot amend. The 'probable cause' test is often misinterpreted as the US demanding more evidence from the UK then the UK requires of the US. In fact, the 'probable cause' test is broadly comparable to the requirement for 'information' about the offence that the UK requires of the US — information which would justify the issue of a warrant for the arrest of a person, also known as 'reasonable suspicion'.

"Previously, under the terms of the 1972 Treaty, the US was required to demonstrate a prima facie evidential case in support of extradition requests made to the UK, whereas we merely had to demonstrate 'probable cause', ie, we required more from the USA than they asked of us. To reintroduce the prima facie test would be to recreate an unequal relationship," said the spokesperson.