Australian government sells out another Aussie as software pirate handed to US authorities

Adam Turner
Monday, 07 May 2007 16:04

Opinion and Analysis

Just as the Australian government abandoned David Hicks for years to rot in Guantanamo Bay, it has happily handed over Australian software pirate Hew Griffiths to US authorities even though he has never stepped foot in the US.

A UK-born Australian resident, Griffiths was a member of the Drink or Die software piracy ring which supposedly cost US software companies an estimated $US50 million, although Griffiths is not alleged to have profited from his exploits. He has spent the last three years in an Australian prison but has now been handed over to US authorities - even though he was prepared to plead guilty to breaching Australian copyright law.

Former Australian justice minister, Senator Chris Ellison, had the power to refuse Griffiths' extradition but instead happily handed him over. Griffiths faces the possible 10-year jail term and $US500,000 fine when he is sentenced on June 22.

Griffiths' case is yet another example of the Australian government kowtowing to the United States and putting US interests before the rights of Australians. The Australian government justified leaving Hicks at the mercy of the so-called US justice system because it said Hicks couldn't be prosecuted under Australian law. There are perfectly good Australian laws in place to charge Griffiths, yet Australia has washed its hands of him and handed him over.

While Griffiths has lived in Australia since he was seven, he never took out citizenship and is still a UK citizen - an interesting parallel with David Hicks whose mother is British, entitling him to UK citizenship. When this came to light the UK government also abandoned Hicks, stalling the granting of citizenship until it had passed a law allowing it to then strip Hicks of that citizenship within hours of granting it. Considering this, Griffiths' UK citizenship could also prove to be worthless.

The UK government refused to allow the nine UK inmates in Guantanamo to be tried by the US military tribunals, yet Australia happily left Hicks to rot. UK-based members of Drink or Die were tried in UK, yet Australia happily handed over Griffiths to rot in a US jail cell. The US and UK governments don't stand for such treatment of their citizens, yet Australia happily sells out people like Hicks and Griffiths to appease its US masters.

The treatment of Hicks and now Griffiths is a disgrace - Australians can no longer trust their own government to protect them from the interests of foreign powers. Why do we even pretend Australia is a sovereign nation anymore when it's clear the US calls the shots and Australia follows blindly?

If a person betrays their country it's considered treason - a crime often punishable by death. What's the penalty when a country betrays its people?