Nasa hacker gets temporary reprieve

Gary McKinnon, the man accused of hacking US military systems, has been granted a short stay of extradition.

Last month McKinnon lost his battle in the House of Lords against extradition to the US to face charges of hacking various military systems. His final recourse now would be the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) agreeing to hear his appeal.

McKinnon's solicitors Kaim Todner on Tuesday stated that the ECHR will consider whether McKinnon can appeal, and will not enter into consideration until 28 August.

"The presidents of the European Court Human Rights have granted interim relief to Gary McKinnon for a period of two weeks until 28 August, 2008 for the application to be heard before the full chamber," said solicitor Karen Todner in a statement.

Todner was not available for comment at the time of writing. However, her colleague, trainee solicitor David Dinkeldein, told ZDNet.co.uk that, as the ECHR will be considering the application, the UK government will not be able to extradite McKinnon for two weeks. The ECHR will be McKinnon's final chance to avoid extradition, if it agrees to hear his appeal.

"After the House of Lords, the European Court Human Rights is the last court," said Dinkeldein.

McKinnon claims he broke into the systems up until 2001, including Nasa, in a search for UFOs. However, if convicted of the charges levelled against him by the US, which include deliberately deleting sensitive military information, McKinnon could face up to 60 years in jail.