Photo: White House

British Prime Minister David Cameron has raised the issue of Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon’s extradition case with President Barack Obama, according to The Guardian. Cameron and his deputy PM, Nick Clegg, have each criticized the extradition attempts of McKinnon, arguing that he should instead appear in a British court.

McKinnon stands accused of hacking Department of Defense systems and could face up to 60 years in prison. McKinnon, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, has been trying to fight off extradition to the United States for 6 years.

“Clearly there is a discussion going on between the British and the Americans about this, but I don’t want to prejudice those discussions,” Cameron said at a joint press conference. “We completely understand that Gary McKinnon stands accused of a very important and significant crime in terms of hacking into vital databases, and nobody denies that is an important crime that has to be considered. I have had conversations with the US ambassador as well as raising it with the president, and I hope a way through can be found.”

President Obama stayed relatively aloof of the situation, saying historically, presidents avoid getting directly involved in such processes.

“One of the traditions we have is that the President doesn’t get involved in decisions around prosecutions, extradition matters,” Obam said. “I trust that this will get resolved in a way that underscores the seriousness of the issue, but also underscores the fact that we work together, we can find an appropriate solution.”

McKinnon claims his motivation for hacking the DoD system was his search for UFOs. Many McKinnon supporters see the public pronouncement by Cameron, the first since he became PM, as a step forward in keeping McKinnon in the United Kingdom.

“We’re very pleased that David Cameron has raised this and had a face-to-face discussion about Gary,” McKinnon’s lawyer said. “Obama has used the term an appropriate solution and the appropriate solution is that he stands trial in the UK.”