Michael Kedar, 27, an Israeli man on the autism spectrum known as the ‘Ashkelon hacker’, will be extradited from Norway to the United States to stand trial there, according to a report published Wednesday by the Shavim website. Following the ruling, Kedar’s father, Gabi, said: “He is in mortal danger, and Israel is ignoring us.”
According to the report, Norway’s appeals court overturned a previous decision in Kedar’s case that had been issued in the middle of last month.
Gabi Kedar said the new ruling constitutes a violation of human rights. “Michael is in a severe psychotic state and is being forcibly medicated. The Americans are ignoring his condition. They want to place him in high-security facilities that are completely unsuitable for his medical situation,” he said.
He added: “Psychiatrists say he is at risk of suicide. He cannot endure this anymore. An Israeli court has already ruled that he attempted to take his own life a significant number of times. Now the situation is far more severe. This is an execution. Not only was he not criminally responsible due to psychosis, he was imprisoned in Israel while sick and suffering without treatment. He was released in worse condition than when he entered prison and is now leaving Israel in a psychotic state.”
The US request after Kedar arrived in Norway
Kedar is currently hospitalized in a psychiatric facility in Norway after being held in custody there since October of last year. Norwegian authorities initially intended to deport him to Israel and release him, but US authorities then requested his extradition, arguing that he had not been tried for all offenses in the Israeli proceedings. Last week, Norway’s Supreme Court ruled it would not intervene in the appeals court decision.
Kedar served seven of the 10 years originally handed down by an Israeli court for using his computer to threaten to bomb airplanes, schools and Jewish institutions in the United States, Europe and Australia. Israel’s Supreme Court later reduced his sentence to seven years.
Last year, he traveled to Norway seeking political asylum due to an arrest warrant issued against him in the United States.