Julian Assange has been given a chance to continue his fight against extradition to the US after London’s High Court said the United States needed to provide more assurances about what will happen to him.
US prosecutors are seeking to put Assange, 52, on trial on 18 counts, all bar one under the Espionage Act, over WikiLeaks’ high-profile release of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables.
Assange’s lawyers in February sought permission to challenge Britain’s approval of his extradition to the US, arguing his prosecution was politically motivated.
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In their ruling on Tuesday, two senior judges said he had a real prospect of successfully appealing against extradition on a number of grounds.
The court said in its written ruling that Assange arguably would not be entitled to rely on the First Amendment right to free speech as a non-US national and that he could later be charged with a capital offence, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him.
British ministers “had an explicit statutory obligation not to order the applicant’s extradition if he could be sentenced to death for the offence concerned, or if he could be charged with an extradition offence disclosed by the same facts in respect of which a sentence of death could be imposed”, the judges said.
If those assurances are not forthcoming, then Assange will be granted permission to appeal.
A further hearing has been scheduled for May 20, meaning his extradition – which his campaign team said could have been imminent depending on the ruling – has been put on hold.
Although Assange’s legal team were successful on some grounds, the court rejected his bid to appeal on the basis that the case was politically motivated or that he would not receive a fair trial.
‘I find this astounding’
Speaking after the judgment, Assange’s wife Stella called on the US to drop the case against her husband.
“What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States … send a letter saying ‘it’s all ok’. I find this astounding,” she said outside court.
“This case is a retribution. It is a signal to all of you that if you expose the interests that are driving war they will come after you, they will put you in prison and will try to kill you.
“The Biden administration should not issue assurances. They should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought.”
The US argues WikiLeaks’ revelations imperilled the lives of their agents and there was no excuse for Assange’s criminality.
Assange’s many supporters hail him as an anti-establishment hero who is being persecuted, despite being a journalist, for exposing US wrongdoing and alleged war crimes.
The US meanwhile said Assange had been charged for “indiscriminately and knowingly” publishing sources’ names and not his political opinions.
– with AP and PA