ASSANGE IN FINAL UK APPEAL AGAINST EXTRADITION TO U.S. This result will be defined by politicians – Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange began his final legal challenge in the United Kingdom on Tuesday against his extradition to the United States on espionage charges.
The UK approved his extradition to the United States in 2022 under then Home Secretary Priti Patel after a judge initially blocked it on Assange’s mental health concerns. Assange and his lawyers have appealed since then.
In a two-day hearing which ends on Wednesday, two judges at the UK High Court, namely Victoria Sharp and Justice Johnson, will hear his final appeal against being sent to the United States.
Assange, 52, is wanted in the United States on allegations of disclosing national defence information following WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked military documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars a decade ago, which included an Apache helicopter video footage documenting the U.S. military gunning down Reuters journalists and children in Baghdad’s streets in 2007.
Assange has been held at southeast London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison since 2019. Lawyers for the United States said earlier that he would be allowed to transfer to Australia, his home country, to serve any prison sentence he may be given.
If the two judges at the UK High Court rule in Assange’s favour, a full appeal hearing will be scheduled to consider his challenge and could lead to a new decision about his extradition.
If he loses the case on Wednesday, Assange’s legal team has promised to apply for an emergency injunction at the European Court of Human Rights.
According to his legal team, Assange is not attending the hearing as he is unwell. His wife Stella Assange warned last week that his health was “in decline, physically and mentally.”
Holding placards saying “FREE JULIAN ASSANGE,” hundreds of protesters gathered outside the High Court on Tuesday. They argued that Assange should not be extradited to the U.S.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks addressed reporters.