My laptop was stolen from me on the Vienna to Frankfurt train on Saturday.
I had been working on a blog article on the train. Approaching Frankfurt I packed up ready to get off, and went to the loo. When I returned the laptop had vanished from the laptop bag. The charger was still there and so was about 500 euros in cash.
I am on a speaking tour around Germany for the campaign to free Julian Assange. Yes, I am thinking the same as you about who would want a battered and dirty six year old laptop with a cracked case and very little retail value, and not the money.
That laptop had literally been all round the world with me and I think for six years had never left my side except when I was in jail.
My life was on it. Have spent 24 hours cancelling everything and now have to spend a week recovering anything.
It was a monster 17 inch screen because of my awful eyesight and a replacement of the same capacity will probably weigh about a quarter of the kilos. But I feel the absence of the weight on my shoulder like the loss of a limb.
For a while look out for fake communications of any kind from me. This is not one!
What bad luck. It would be best if you considered a Chromebook for your next laptop.
What, so that the NSA can have direct access to everything he types and has stored?
Hi, Craig!
I am a 55 yr old American woman in Texas. Although you and I seem to be on opposite ends of the political spectrum, I am so sorry for the theft of your laptop. I was victim of a purse and wallet theft last year. Although it did not contain my digital livelihood, the theft felt very personal, and again, I just want to express my condolences to you. Godspeed to you on your path to recover what you can.
[ MOD: Fixed ]
___
*Craig, not Tom! Sorry-had just been chatting with my neighbor “Tom”!
This really smells fishy.
Hopefully there is nothing on the laptop they could use and that all your own data is safe elsewhere.
Apple is what it is, but their computers and phones all seem to work well and are more user friendly than the alternatives [IMO anyway]. Are any tech companies really ‘clean’?
There may also be an element of – ‘see – we are watching you’ that goes beyond the actual theft.
And – you’re not paranoid – they really are out to get you.
Apple is the very last thing I would consider – 100% guaranteed to violate your privacy. Also the worst value-for-money on the market.
“User friendly” is entirely in the mind of the user, it just means “what I am used to”. My wife and I use Linux, which all the media pundits say is un-user-friendly, but the user interface is more customisable than Apple or Microsoft, according to my better half.
(Not that I’d recommend a Linux laptop to Craig – he should go with whatever he’s used to, which might be a refurbished laptop running the same version of Windows as his old one.)
If he’s going to leave laptops lying around on trains/planes I’d recommend a cheap laptop with Linux on a USB memory stick with persistence. This means that as long the computer can boot off a USB stick, it will load a complete, separate Linux environment which could include all the data/files/documents/apps needed. Once finished the computer can be shut down or restarted and it’s onboard OS will still work as before. Another advantage is that he could use almost any USB-bootable machine that was available. The AntiX distro was designed just for this and will run on old, poor-spec machines. See https://antixlinux.com/
Buy a top-quality USB stick and keep it safe!
Oh dear – an Apple vs others thread starting!! My experience of Windows and its really strange and clunky ways, especially in its early days, put me off for ever really. Apple / Mac serves many people well, as its served me since 1991 and system 7,. and ties in with their other products, including the iPhone, with very little fuss. In regard to value? I can’t see that much difference. You generally get what you pay for. As for privacy, I’d like to see some evidence to back up your claim. Google is much worse in my experience. . I’d advise Craig’s new computer to be smaller and to use what system he’s used to so that all his programmes work as they did previously. If he mostly works from home at a desk, a smaller lap top with a larger desk top monitor would work well for him. Cheers.
This post will not cheer Mr Murray up !!
@AAMVN
My thought exactly. No self-respecting thief would take an obviously old, bulky laptop and ignore a large amount of cash. Somebody’s letting Craig know he’s under constant surveillance–as if he didn’t already know that.
For more thoughts on NSA, i.e. No Shit Analysis, see Larry Johnson’s splendid piece here: https://sonar21.com/europes-growing-anger-at-the-united-states-while-u-s-economy-is-flashing-red/
Just to play devil’s advocate, maybe they saw him put the laptop away, and didn’t realize there was also money in the case, since they hadn’t seen it. No time for a full search in an opportunistic theft. Not trying to blame anyone or say it’s one thing or another. Just that it’s not definite.
Also, whoever did it, just to be clear, it’s a really horrible crime. Who knows what’s lost, maybe family photos, talk notes, urgent emails. and my sympathies are with Craig.
I like Apple products for exactly the reasons you stated, but I’m conscious that there comes a time when you have to sacrifice (some) convenience/ease of use for security. Password managers that aren’t in The Cloud and encrypted containers are the way to go…
I have some video from my ring doorbell device showing two stalkers outside my home address. ‘ uwontbegrinningsoon’ was shouted by another stalker at me at the start of lock down. However distressing being stalked is, there is something even more sinister going on. I have behaved in certain ways which, when I reflect, makes me wonder why I do certain things which are clearly not for my benefit.
I did wonder, when the State went full attack mode on you and where there seemed no hope of any reasonable compromise from them, whether something similar in terms of ‘ why did I write that article’ crossed your mind? The theft of a crappy old computer which had great significance and importance for you makes me less confident that the theft was a random event.
Dumb decision, but most shame and blame, next to the thief, goes to the fellow travellers who let that happen.
I’m really sorry for your loss and hindsight is a wonderful thing, but really Craig how could you be so naive ?
This really smacks of ‘civil servant loses laptop on train’. You are a target, wake up !
I don’t intend to start carting my luggage into train toilets with me ?
Then accept the theft that results. Your call
Some Wonga, winging it’s way to you for lawyers fees etc.
If I may make a suggestion, the only way I can think of preventing such events – bar a travelling companion with his wits about him – is to have a memory stick that you plug into your laptop at intervals (or keep plugged in during a journey). A simple timed task could continually keep your important files synchronised with the stick. Before leaving the laptop, remove the stick and take it with you – in an inside pocket.
Annoying and bothersome, but relatively fullproof. Also a good insurance policy if you should lose the laptop for any other reason, such as fire or accident.
Today memory sticks are available with huge capacities and rapid transfer speeds, for quite trivial sums (less than £50).
Alternatively,if such a thing exists, a screen and keyboard that interface with a phone wirelessly would get around most of the problems of trying to do everything on a phone screen. The phone would, of course,go to the toilet with you.
Craig,
I’d like to add my concern that your security procedures are so lax.
Quite clearly the powers that be consider you a threat, and for good reason. That they locked you up on a BS contempt of court offence is evidence of that. That you would leave yourself vulnerable in this way worries quite a few of us.
Please, please take the advice of those who are advising you to use an encrypted usb drive to store your data. Maybe see if there’s some pro-bono data security advice you can avail yourself of via some of the other commenters on this thread.
Seems that you have a secret handler attached, who has been following you around. He/she might still be listening to your presentations.
So, travelling alone in a foreign land and leaving one’s treasured belongings unprotected easy pickings for any opportunist to make off with?
And you, a man of significant experience in the unpleasant wiles of the world. What were you thinking … to be so remiss?
And if not travelling alone unaccompanied, one may have some valid awkward questions to ask of companions.
If Edward Snowden is to be believed, then there is no need for them to steal your computer.
If psychologists are to be believed, they will all tell you they never met anybody with paranoia who didn’t have good reason…_
– “If Edward Snowden is to be believed, then there is no need for them to steal your computer.”
Snowden is right, any system can be penetrated remotely, but it does require skill, time and effort, and ‘they’ can’t be sure they got everything; physical control of the hardware is still fastest, cheapest and most thorough. But more importantly it also inflicts huge loss and damage upon the victim.
The psychologists are right too. We live in a system predicated upon exploitation, manipulation, deception and extractivism – abuse, essentially – so we all have good reason, including “them”. Ultimately there will be no winners in a self-destructive system.
Clark, “We live in a system predicated upon exploitation, manipulation, deception and extractivism”….. all sounds very binary to me…_
It’s taken me a lifetime to really see it; most of it looks so normal. “The Devil’s greatest trick was convincing us that he didn’t exist”.
Another victory for the secret squirrels. Look for a bloke who fills a dinner jacket well but has a parvenu’s appreciation of wines and good taste.
Thinking MI5, it’s their modus operandi and footprint
Cui bono
Recent ground-breaking developments, General Cologne, have Security and Secret Intelligence Services with a lot more on their plates than they are currently able to enable and handle, methinks. And whether the future will be kind to them and permit them a leading say in extremely sensitive Top Secret compartmented information circles rather than them just exercising sets of supplied instructions is fully dependent upon their agencies’ levels of advanced intelligence comprehension and agency personnels’ ability to engage with a vast host of remote A.N.Others similarly entertaining and experimenting with leading viable future thought patterns ….. successfully trialed and fail-safe beta tested trailing narratives.
Did the train not have cctv?
Annoyingly not. German trains do but not the international ones.
The Vienna-Frankfurt train isnt’t operated from the UK, so naturally the most likely answer is ‘no’. The UK is far ahead in Orwellianism, and has been so for decades.
Sad and sorry for your loss, Craig.
Is it still possible to contact the relevant police and transport authorities in Frankfurt to find out if the laptop has been handed in? You will need to have a record of its serial number to help verify it is yours in case someone has handed it in.
The only reason I can think of for your laptop being stolen – if indeed it was, and not reported as lost or abandoned when you went for your toilet break – is for its spare parts.
Yes I filed reports with the railway and the police.
Don’t be surprised if it turns up and you get it back, plus a bug or two, one to see what you are doing in live time on it, and another to track the laptops movements.
Get into the habit of storing data on the cloud only, especially with portable devices. Then anyone who steals your portable device gets a portable device and nothing else.
…and the government has much easier access to your data.
The pattern of the thread so far seems to be suggestions for the most secure way to store data immediately being challenged as the least secure!
And sadly that’s the reality. Making data more secure from loss makes it less secure from interception. Locking down a system means locking it down from yourself as well as others (so you’ll need to keep good care of the keys). Convenience, security and availability are embroiled in a never-ending struggle. I personally try to be secure and keep local backups only, but I have a feeling that if the spooks really cared what I was up to they would find a way. Perhaps a thousand ways.
My condolences to Craig in what must be a painful and difficult time.
The Cloud is no good on the train, as the wifi is not reliable.
Encrypted on ‘the cloud’ is an improvement on nothing, but the reality is that ‘the cloud’ is not secure and your data is at risk from the various security services. It’s also important to encrypt your drive, this is simple. An encrypted USB drive for data might be better, slip it in your pocket when you leave your laptop. There are also various tracking apps available.
Craig needs to sit down with a security person to ensure his devices are adequately protected, it really isn’t difficult or onerous. I hope the personal information on this blog is better protected !
Be prepared like a good boy scout …
No, never. That’s the last place to store anything even slightly confidential.
The place to store data is a USB stick. They’re tiny, about 5cm x 1.5cm x 0.8cm, and have huge capacity. When you have to leave your laptop unattended, you take your USB stick with you.
(An earlier commenter mentioned that you can also store the operating system on the USB stick, and most computers can boot from USB. It’s a good solution and not really difficult to set up, but I can understand a very non-technical person being reluctant to try it.)
And then you’re SOL when it breaks, corrupts, or simply falls out of your pocked while on a loo/morning walk/changing clothes? I mean, I am pretty young and athletic, especially when compared to someone Craig’s age, yet I lost several sticks in the past, and my dad lost over a dozen to misplacing, theft, and simply forgetting where they are. What then? Especially if the work was valuable? Did you people think this through?
The same issue, only a thousand times worse, applies to whole OS on a stick (and the chances something goes wrong go up a hundredfold). And it might not technically be difficult to set up, but fixing the setup when something goes wrong (even as trivial as device changing boot order) is a job for IT expert and most definitely for not your usual user, especially on a trip, who gets to stare at very pretty brick their PC had just become. Though I agree in one thing, never store anything sensitive in a cloud.
I’m very sorry to read this Craig; my thoughts are with you. I had a spate of data loss in 2019; my ISP deleted my web page and all my e-mail, and I lost a mobile phone with all my contacts on it. I felt as if part of my personality had been erased. Best wishes to you and I hope the speaking tour goes well. Love and rage.
Personally, if I’ve been working on the laptop on the train, I always take it to the toilet with me, precisely to avoid this kind of thing happening. Too tempting for someone passing. I once lost a bag on Stuttgart Hbf at 6.am, when there was no-one around, and I foolishly thought it safe to go to the loo, and leave the stacked baggage trolley for a minute or two. And I don’t keep the data of what I’m writing on the laptop, but rather separately on memory stick or external disk (definitely not in the Cloud; the train wifi is not reliable)..
Yes, work on it on the laptop, then save it to a card or stick. Leave nothing on the laptop, put the stick in your pocket when on the move.
Sorry to hear about your loss of laptop. Seems strange that the whole bag wasn’t taken, which would be the case with a random theft.
Given your profile and defence of Julian, it would certainly point to a targeted theft, especially with the German government attitude to defenders of Palestine and BDS, leaving out the USA and Britain’s treatment of Julian.
Whilst you may not wish to, I think taking your laptop to the loo in future is advisable.
Ah, had not seen your comment Ian. Just what I was thinking too.
All very odd. Surely the thief would have found it much quicker and less conspicuous to lift the whole bag. They would also have looked much less conspicuous walking along with a bag than clutching an uncased laptop.
Yes, that’s what I was thinking. A thief would snatch the entire bag,
They really wouldnt. By taking something in the bag, the hope is the passenger returns to their seat and doesn’t notice until later. As someone posted earlier, an opportunistic thief might have seen Craig putting it in his bag and specifically targeting it. The actual age of the laptop would not have been realised until later. Whoever stole it is a Git of the first order and conspiracy theories aside, this post demonstrates just how upsetting small scale theft like this is. A friend recently had his wallet stolen whilst on the London Underground and he is shattered and worried about his stolen driving licence being used to access other parts of his life. The chances in either case of the perpetrators being caught is near to zero which makes such crime even more upsetting.
No ‘ordinary’ thief would have left the 500Euros when pinching a crappy old laptop. Thieves want money, not a piece of junk that wouldn’t fetch a hundred Euros at a car boot sale or at the German equivalent of Cash Converters.
They were sending you a message, Craig. Piling on psychological pressure in a very crude way.
One might guess who “they” are, but there’s not much point in speculating who the ‘usual suspects’ are. What is obvious is that they are trying to break your morale. They’re testing you.
Don’t let the bastards grind you down.
Assuming the thief wasn’t your normal “Ne’er-do-well”, then we can also assume that Craig was being tailed and the person was looking for an ‘opportunity’. So, the consequences could have been worse if force had been used to steal the laptop. Sadly to protect ones self you need to assume the worse when dealing with the western regimes. At least Craig is okay.
For the next one, look into Tails – it’s a Linux distro.
IMHO, that is.
Yes, Tails is a very good solution; just one pass-phrase to encrypt all your data, and all data and software on a single USB memory stick so you can just slip it into your pocket when you go to the loo. If your laptop gets nicked, well, there was nothing on it anyway, and your Tails USB stick will run on the replacement, or on a friend’s computer.
So sorry, but you must beef up your security. Tails is definitely an excellent solution for you.
PS Assuming it was a message from TPTB, it means you are still on the right track. Take it as a compliment.
Just don’t lose it!
Sorry you’ve lost an old friend Craig and I hope you are well backed up. I’m sure you are being watched and I’m not paranoid. Keep smiling!
This goes all the way from random theft (unfortunate) to a malign actor stalking you and stealing this vital object (terrifying). How can we determine what happened? Without further information, it does seem difficult. However I have a little story for you. Bear with me for a moment.
Who is Craig? Well he is an outstanding individual, one of the “tall poppies”. It is not unbelieveable that he might be targeted for observation and intervention. He represents a powerful node in a network of potential dissent.
Who am I? Well no one of any import. I have not been online since 2018 (poverty induced) though recently I have been able to access the internet thanks to a kindly neighbour. In 2018, at the offguardian website I had run in with a fellow user whose behaviour seemed to be bizarre enough for me to think that this entity was a paid actor. Of course one never knows who one is dealing with online, so I had a little laugh at my (conspiratorial)sense of self importance and a short while later lost access to the internet, fair enough. I reconnected several months ago and the first place I commented at was All the Goss, a very, very quiet place operated by Jon Goss, who some readers may know of, he used to comment here and some other places I visited in 2018 (MofA, Offguardian etc). Very few comments are made at his website, certainly very little of any length. Over the next week I placed several comments and had a decent interaction with Mr Goss, which I enjoyed. Then out of no where, the entity who I had the unpleasent encounter with at the Offguardian site four years earlier (name and photograph the same) appeared and started commenting. What are the chances? Me, it and Jon Goss in that forum all commenting.
I am no one, literally. I know no one, I communicate with no one, I own nothing, I live in a homeless hostel, I am not a “tall poppy”. My only attribute is being bluntly spoken. If the emperor was not wearing clothes I would be one of the first to say it.
This is where we are at. The pontential nework of dissent is monitered every which way, from the “tallest poppy” to the lowest struggler.
You have to assume that it’s been lifted by a security service, and that all your e-mails, e-mail addresses, phone numbers and contacts in general, and stored info are now in their hands, to be monitored 24/7, especially with you having close contact with Assange and his family.
Maybe Whitehall hopes to unmask your moles at Westminster and Holyrood, or anywhere else you happen to have them, and I don’t mean the ones your back.
“I am on a speaking tour around Germany for the campaign to free Julian Assange.”
You’ll have lots of new friends from the BND following you around on your trip.
Now that, as they say, was a bummer…
On the bright side, I see today the Gruniad and their four fellow beneficiaries of Assange’s revelations have written to Brandon appealing to him to drop the charges.
I wonder why, after all these years?
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/nov/28/media-groups-urge-us-drop-julian-assange-charges
Craig have you underestimated the clandestine services in the UK their interest and sinister intent? Nothing can be proved but their intrusion is highly likely. Next will follow an interrogation of your laptop and you! The aim is to attack and exploit your past at the same time discomfort and disorientate you by this physical intrusion of your space. The veiled threat is real they have removed your pen ink and paper by inference your freedom of expression. This abject incident may be a warning? Please take care.
If the dark state people knew that Craig was travelling from Vienna to Frankfurt they might have assumed he would go by air. If he had checked in or ‘dropped off’ his luggage plus computer at Vienna airport it could well have suffered the same fate as Julian Assange’s luggage plus computer when he flew from Stockholm to Berlin in September 2010. Taking the train provides fewer opportunities for interception, so whoever was trailing Craig had to wait until Craig left his seat before he/she struck.
Keeping any thing important on a USB stick seems like a sensible practice.
No point putting down to mischief what can be explained by common theft. Trains must be ideal places for thieves; so many expensive electronic devices they merely have to wait. And who’d suspect that nice chap dressed in a suit and tie?
Besides, with due respect, I doubt Craig is of interest. He’s a blogger, author and journalist, not an investigative journalist at the Grayzone, or someone at the NY Times, or a Julian Assange.
Sound advice for any investigative journalist, but could apply to anyone who travels with a laptop : lightweight fully encrypted OS including /boot, two-factor authentication for logins and root/admin/sudo, set a shortish (~5 minutes) logout, thus requiring it. Without that key they can’t ‘in theory’ get to your data on a snatched stolen device. You’d have your 2FA key on your keyring of house/car keys which you’d obviously be expected to keep with you at all times, including when taking loo breaks.
Nice paranoia. Not only are most of available encryptions hopelessly inadequate or compromised when confronted with state actors (or even better hackers), the handful of them I’d maybe trust with my PC aren’t things usable on your work PC unless it’s really strong one, as you wouldn’t want to render it nearly unusable. And then there is a question of your two factor authenticator – what do you do if it breaks? Especially on a trip rendering your PC very pretty brick? Keep a spare on your at all times? And what do you do when would be robber (or spook) asks you nicely to provide a pass/pin to devices you have on you or someone is getting a finger broken? Etc, etc, you and the others above can roleplay Bond all you want, but some people here have way too strong imagination and way too little real experience with security…
Indeed, very upsetting, sorry to hear of this episode. Leaves a very sour taste, and a good deal of concern. . It was very probably an opportunistic theft, otherwise you’d have to postulate some deliberate action by some agency out to interfere with your work and following you around Europe. That seems just a bit OTT and paranoid, and although you’re a bit of nuisance to the powers that be, are you really that important, but who knows nowadays. The fact the money was still there might just mean the culprit didn’t have time to search the bag, he/she just saw the computer. Not the wisest thing to leave a bag with computer and a good deal of cash unattended in a train seat, and as you’re getting on a bit, perhaps your quick visit to the toilet isn’t as quick as it used to be!! . The temptation to leave stuff unattended on a train is very high, particularly if you have to lug around a behemoth with a 17 inch screen (perhaps you should see a specialist to see if your vision can be improved, and nowadays it’s easy to adjust font size or enlarge screens on computers to make reading easier – I really would suggest a 17 inch screen is overkill except for professionals in IT, huge spreadsheets, video, gamesters, etc, and I’m sure that doesn’t apply to you), but honestly I’d never leaf a phone or computer or cash on my seat or table even for an instant, I would indeed take it with me.
I hope it was protected by at least a half decent password. and that you don’t keep bank account passwords on the computer. But as you say, it’s a huge effort in panic mode to inform banks and so many contacts etc of a problem, and reset passwords etc, which you will need to do. I hope you had a couple of back ups. I always have two back ups, I use a Mac, I use “Time machine” for one and Carbon Copy Cloner for another. I don’t use the Cloud for important documents. That saved me a few years ago, when my computer got drowned. My Time Machine backup didn’t work, but the CCC did.
Anyway, good luck with the rest of your tour and talks, I hope the loss of your computer doesn’t interfere too much. . That Assange is still languishing in gaol is a disgrace, it makes me ashamed of my UK nationality, so thank you ever so much for your tireless work on his behalf. .
I dont wish to be critical but have you ever noticed how much you become the story, or your friends and family?
Can you go one month without self reporting?
Isn’t he allowed to do this, it’s up to us to decide whether this is a bother? Craig was reporting his computer had been stolen. But more than this, he’s warning us about possible impersonation, and he’s telling us he’s on a trip on the Continent to support Julian Assange. We also now know his eyesight isn’t very good, though not why. A number of the posts here might help him decide on computer security in the future. It might too be an explanation if he doesn’t post on his blog for a few days. Also a salutary tale, don’t leave unattended valuables in public places or transport. So I think this criticism is a bit unfair, as the information is relevant to his work and this site. Cheers.
There is one thing Craig has forgotten about in this tale of intrigue. And I say this a true advocate of Scottish independence to avoid accusations of Unionist duplicity. Here goes:
Craig why would your tablet be taken by secret service on an inter Europe train when the secret service could have thoroughly examined your tablet when you were imprisoned and during the period you were under suspicion of having been in breach of a court order. All of your media devices would have been removed and examined for evidential purposes. There would be need to steal your old tablet.
It sounds like opportunism.
As a matter of query where were you travelling to and from on your Assange tour in case my Unionist friends ask.
It says in the article where I was traveling to and from.
At no time did the police have access to my electronic devices while I was in jail. They were locked away safely at home.
I think it can also be harassment. For some reason, surveillance isn’t always enough for them.
Read Rob Green’s (2011) book on the (1984) murder of his aunt Hilda Murrell.
If someone, a private person or even a government, is serious about hacking you for information then I don’t think there’s any real way you can prevent it. But opportunist thieves are everywhere especially in the run-up to Christmas and trains are a prime target. I can only imagine the loss of data,pictures etc that are irreplaceable. That’s the real loss. I hope that it is found and returned to you but maybe it’s time to renew your laptop anyway..
It’s easy to be clever with hindsight, of course. But when travelling you always have to be aware of the value / replaceability of everything you are carrying, pack and take precautions accordingly. And, yes: passport, money, phone or laptop come to the toilet. A mate was travelling in India many moons ago, had his most irreplaceable stuff in a money belt – fantastic idea. Until he took the money belt off on a train, hung it from a hook beside him, went to sleep, it wasn’t there when he woke up. Premature end to that backpacking trip, and a lesson for the ages…
“What took them so long? New York Times, Guardian finally call for Assange’s freedom.
Ten years after Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange was forced to seek refuge at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and three years after he was arrested and subjected to solitary confinement, the editors and publishers of the New York Times, the Guardian, Le Monde, El País and Der Spiegel have issued an open letter calling on US President Joe Biden to end his prosecution.”
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/11/29/pers-n29.html?pk_campaign=newsletter&pk_kwd=wsws
A moderator here told me some years ago that Assange is never off topic.
Was just about to post this article and pose the same question – why took them so long? Why now?
Are they calling for his “freedom” though? Nope, quite a feeble open letter.
Well it says they are calling for the curtailment of the prosecution.
Difficult to imagine they would be doing this in concert without an official change of policy and issuing of an instruction, rather than on their own initiative, so it looks hopeful to me.
It’s noteworthy that they ask the USA not to apply its (bad) law, instead of asking the UK to do anything reasonable. The 2003 extradition treaty with the USA is unequal and has practically no protection for the accused, but apparently it’s seen as a waste of time to ask the UK government to use its powers under that treaty; Westminster now simply takes orders from Washington.
The 2003 treaty should never have been agreed and should be scrapped. It contains a toothless prohibition from extraditing a person for that person’s political opinions, but allows extradition of a person for political speech or political actions. Of course it’s hopeless to expect either main party in the UK to show any respect for individual human rights nowadays, or even to stand up for Britain’s independence when instructions come from across the Atlantic.