Big Win For Julian Assange as UK Court Grants Him Right to Challenge US Extradition

Julian Assange Case: Adding another chapter to his lengthy legal battle, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been granted the opportunity to appeal a UK court ruling that approved his extradition to the United States to face espionage charges. This decision comes after two London High Court judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson expressed concerns and requested "satisfactory assurances" from the US regarding free speech protections at Assange's trial.  

For the unversed, Assange, 52, has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over his website’s publication of a trove of classified US documents almost 15 years ago. American prosecutors alleged that Assange encouraged and helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published.

'Lipstick on Pig, But…'

Before the hearing, Assange's supporters had gathered outside the court showing placards and chanting 'No extradition, only one decision'. To them, this legal saga represented a crucial fight for media freedom. However as the news of the ruling reached them, they cheered and applauded outside court. Assange’s wife, Stella, said the U.S. had tried to put “lipstick on a pig — but the judges did not buy it.” 

She said the U.S. should “read the situation” and drop the case. “As a family we are relieved but how long can this go on?" she said. “This case is shameful and it is taking an enormous toll on Julian."
 

Assange’s family and supporters say his physical and mental health have suffered during more than a decade of legal battles, which includes seven years spent inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London from 2012 until 2019. He has spent the past five years in a British high-security prison.

Assange’s lawyers argued in February that he was a journalist who exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sending him to the U.S., they said, would expose him to a politically motivated prosecution and risk a “flagrant denial of justice.” 

The Case Against Assange

Assange, an Australian computer expert, has been indicted in the US on 18 charges over Wikileaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of classified documents in 2010. Prosecutors say he conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon computer and release secret diplomatic cables and military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He faces 17 counts of espionage and one charge of computer misuse. If convicted, his lawyers say he could receive a prison term of up to 175 years, though American authorities have said any sentence is likely to be much lower.

Assange and his supporters argue he acted as a journalist to expose U.S. military wrongdoing and is protected under press freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Among the files published by WikiLeaks was video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack by American forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two Reuters journalists.

“Julian has been indicted for receiving, possessing and communicating information to the public of evidence of war crimes committed by the U.S. government,” his wife, Stella Assange, said. “Reporting a crime is never a crime.”

U.S. lawyers say Assange is guilty of trying to hack the Pentagon computer and that WikiLeaks’ publications created a “grave and imminent risk” to U.S. intelligence sources in Afghanistan and Iraq.