Judge quashes Home Office decision to extradite vulnerable man to US | Extradition

A excessive court docket choose has quashed a House Workplace choice that paved the way in which for a weak autistic man to be extradited to the US on cybercrime expenses carrying a attainable 52-year sentence.The UK authorities has accepted that Diogo Santos Coelho, 25, a Portuguese nationwide, was groomed and exploited on-line by adults from the age of 14, resulting in him establishing the web site RaidForums, to which the alleged crimes relate.Portugal and the US have submitted extradition requests for Coelho. He has been assessed as being at a really excessive danger of suicide, and stated he feared for his life if despatched to jail within the US, the place he would haven’t any household assist. Final 12 months, the then UK dwelling secretary, James Cleverly, stated the US request ought to take precedence over Portugal’s.On the excessive court docket, Mr Justice Linden dominated that Cleverly ought to have thought-about Coelho’s “proximity to household and associates, his reference to the respective authorized techniques, his rights and the probably outcomes within the prison course of, and his rights to assist in relation to his psychological well being taking into consideration that he has been discovered to be a sufferer of contemporary slavery”.He added: “The truth that the claimant has been identified with autism and has different points along with his psychological well being, and the danger of suicide, are additionally an vital a part of the circumstances.”Coelho stated: “After years of feeling trapped in a nightmare, this judgment appears like the primary ray of sunshine. I really feel as if I’ve been correctly heard, the excessive court docket has checked out the actual details of my case, acknowledged the unfairness of the scenario, and has given me hope that my life doesn’t should be on this state of limbo for ever.“My place has at all times been clear and has by no means modified: I’ve consented to extradition to Portugal, my dwelling nation, and I’m totally ready to face the justice system there. I’ve by no means tried to evade duty, solely to be handled with equity and humanity. This choice has lifted an amazing weight and I hope the house secretary will now respect the court docket’s clear judgment and permit this to occur.”The choose additionally discovered that Coelho ought to have been allowed to make representations earlier than the house secretary’s choice was made and that Portugal and the US ought to make representations too.Which means when the present dwelling secretary, Shabana Mahmood, retakes the choice, as required by the ruling, Coelho will be capable of make representations to her as to why the Portuguese request ought to take precedence.Linden additional stated the unique choice was taken on the inaccurate foundation that the entire victims of the alleged offending had been within the US, whereas a key sufferer was the Portuguese state.Coelho is accused of controlling and administering RaidForums, a hacking discussion board distributing information breaches facilitating fraud.skip previous e-newsletter promotionOur morning e mail breaks down the important thing tales of the day, telling you what’s occurring and why it mattersPrivacy Discover: Newsletters might comprise details about charities, on-line adverts, and content material funded by exterior events. When you shouldn’t have an account, we’ll create a visitor account for you on theguardian.com to ship you this article. You’ll be able to full full registration at any time. For extra details about how we use your information see our Privateness Coverage. We use Google reCaptcha to guard our web site and the Google Privateness Coverage and Phrases of Service apply.after e-newsletter promotionBen Cooper KC, who represented Coelho, stated: “It is a case the place the accused’s dwelling nation of Portugal is well-equipped to take care of its citizen for the totality of the conduct alleged by the US and extra. Our consumer already consented to his extradition to Portugal. We’re happy that the court docket recognised the significance of guaranteeing the minister has each correct data and considers related proof earlier than reaching such an vital choice that may decide our weak consumer’s destiny.”The case is similar to that of Gary McKinnon, who was additionally represented by Cooper and who fought a decade-long battle in opposition to extradition to the US for hacking into the Pentagon, earlier than Theresa Could blocked it on human rights grounds as a result of medical reviews stated he was vulnerable to suicide.The House Workplace stated it didn’t touch upon particular person instances.