Britain orders extradition of Julian Assange to United States
Posted Fri 17 Jun 2022 at 9:31amFriday 17 Jun 2022 at 9:31am, updated Sat 18 Jun 2022 at 12:55amSaturday 18 Jun 2022 at 12:55am
YouTube Julian Assange could face 175-year prison sentence as UK approves his extradition to US.
The British government has ordered the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the United States, but WikiLeaks said it would appeal against the ruling.
Key points:
- The order follows a Supreme Court ruling that Mr Assange's health would not prevent extradition
- He has 14 days to appeal against the ruling and may also seek a judicial review
- Supporters say the US case against him is politically motivated and he is entitled to freedom-of-speech protections as a journalist
Home Secretary Priti Patel made the decision after Mr Assange was denied a Supreme Court appeal back in March.
That case related to Mr Assange's physical and mental health, and the US government won after offering assurances he would not be held in solitary confinement.
The Home Office said in a statement: "The UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange.
"Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health."
The decision is a big moment in Mr Assange's years-long battle to avoid facing trial in the US — though not necessarily the end of the tale.
New legal battle
The 50-year-old Australian still has 14 days to appeal against his extradition based on issues like freedom of speech, arguing the espionage charges against him are politically motivated.
"Today is not the end of the fight. It is only the beginning of a new legal battle," Mr Assange's wife Stella said.
Ms Assange also called for Australian Prime Minister Albanese to apply some pressure.
"Our expectation as a family is the Australian government will do whatever it takes to get him home," she said.
The Australian federal government says it will continue to offer consular assistance to Mr Assange.
"We will continue to convey our expectations that Mr Assange is entitled to due process, humane and fair treatment, access to proper medical care, and access to his legal team," said a joint statement released late on Friday night from Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
"We will continue to express this view to the governments of the United Kingdom and [the] United States."
MPs call for support
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has labelled the decision by the UK government to green-light the extradition as an "outrageous betrayal of rule of law, media freedom and human rights".
"The elected Prime Minister stated that it's time for Julian to come home," Mr Wilkie said, "enough is enough, that he couldn't see what was served by Julian remaining in prison.
Meanwhile federal MP for the electorate of Bruce, in Victoria, Julian Hill says the case is "inherently political" and called for charges to be dropped.
Mr Assange has the option of launching an appeal at London's High Court, which must give its approval for a challenge to proceed.
He can ultimately seek to take his case to the United Kingdom Supreme Court.
But if an appeal is refused, Mr Assange must be extradited within 28 days.
Mr Assange may also seek a judicial review of the Home Secretary's decision.
A still from the video released by WikiLeaks identifies the driver who assisted Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen.(
collateralmurder.com)
US wants extradition
The US asked British authorities to extradite Mr Assange so he can stand trial on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse, relating to WikiLeaks' publication of a huge trove of classified documents more than a decade ago.
WikiLeaks first came to prominence when it published a US military video in 2010 showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff.
It then released hundreds of thousands of secret classified files and diplomatic cables in what was the largest security breach of its kind in US military history.
American prosecutors say Mr Assange unlawfully helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal classified diplomatic cables and military files, and that the publication of those files put lives at risk.
Journalism organisations and human rights groups have called on Britain to refuse the extradition request.
Supporters and lawyers for Mr Assange argue he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment protections of freedom of speech for publishing documents that exposed US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They argue that his case is politically motivated.
'Chilling message to journalists'
Ms Assange said the UK decision marked "a dark day for press freedom and for British democracy".
"Julian did nothing wrong," she said.
"He has committed no crime and is not a criminal. He is a journalist and a publisher, and he is being punished for doing his job."
Mr Assange's lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in jail if he is convicted in the US, though American authorities have said any sentence is likely to be much lower than that.
"Allowing Julian Assange to be extradited to the US would put him at great risk and sends a chilling message to journalists the world over," said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary-general.
The legal saga began at the end of 2010 when Sweden sought Assange's extradition from Britain over allegations of sex crimes.
When he lost that case in 2012, he fled to the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he spent seven years.
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Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
When he was evicted from the embassy and dragged out by UK police in April 2019, he was jailed for breaching British bail conditions although the Swedish case against him had been dropped.
He has been fighting extradition to the United States since June 2019 and remains in jail.
During his time in the Ecuadorian embassy, he fathered two children with his long-term partner Stella Moris, who he married in Belmarsh high-security prison in east London in March at a small ceremony attended by just four guests, two official witnesses and two guards.
Assange 'anxious' about extradition decision
Stella Assange said her husband had barely slept ahead of the British government's decision to extradite him.(
Reuters: Henry Nicholls)
Ms Assange told the ABC her husband had been "extremely anxious" and had not slept the night before the decision.
She said her husband knows he has support and that with that support he could win his extradition fight.
"Julian is the strongest person I know," she said.
"He has loving family supporting him – we see him about once a week – and he takes strength from the enormous support he knows he has from Australians, from Australian politicians and from institutions around the world.
"He knows he has a lot of support, and that we can win this – the UK courts actually went in his favour originally, and they can go in his favour again and there should be as much pressure as possible to get this dropped, because this is a political case, and it will be decided by the political climate."
ABC/Wires
