Julian Assange on the Brink of U.S. Extradition
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is awaiting a final court decision on Monday, when the British High Court will rule whether to extradite him to the U.S. to face espionage charges for leaking thousands of confidential U.S. military reports and diplomatic cables (confidential text-based messages exchanged between a diplomatic mission, like an embassy or consulate, and the foreign ministry of its parent country) on Wikileaks.
Deborah Bonetti, Director of the Foreign Press Association of the U.K., stated that the High Court will decide on Monday if the 52-year-old founder of Wikileaks will finally be freed or extradited to stand trial in the U.S.
U.S. prosecutors allege that Assange conspired with U.S. army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to hack into a Pentagon database and release thousands of sensitive documents related to U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Tomorrow UK court decision will be handed down on whether UK will allow the extradition of Julian Assange to the US for journalism. #LetHimGoJoe #FreeAssange pic.twitter.com/E3nHpG1OPG
— Free Assange – #FreeAssange (@FreeAssangeNews) May 19, 2024
Assange’s legal team states that he faces 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer misuse. If extradited, he may face a prison term of no less than 175 years.
In 2019, a U.K. court granted the U.S. extradition request, but Assange’s lawyers appealed against the order, arguing that the harsh conditions of the U.S. penitentiary system may lead him to commit suicide.
Despite these arguments, the U.K. court upheld the extradition order in 2021, but Assange returned to court in February 2024, appealing his case once again. Following a hearing on March 26, the High Court announced that the final ruling would be given on May 20.
Video of U.S. Apache attack on unarmed civilians, including two Reuters journalists, was published on WikiLeaks in April 2010. BBC
One of the most notable releases by Wikileaks in April 2010 was a video showing a U.S. Apache helicopter attack in Afghanistan that killed dozens of unarmed civilians, including two Reuters journalists in 2007.
Thousands of protesters across the world have taken to the streets over the years in support of Assange, who they say acted as a journalist to expose wrongful collateral damage inflicted by the U.S. military.
Julian Assange in prison for the last 13 years
Julian Assange was first arrested in Britain back in 2010 for sex crime allegations on a Swedish warrant, which has been dropped since. Following his release on bail, the Wikileaks founder had sought asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London for over seven years before he was arrested again in 2019 when Ecuador’s new government revoked his asylum status. He has since been held in Belmarsh prison in London.
Assange’s legal counsel has argued time and again that if extradited to the U.S., he might take his own life after being subjected to brutal conditions inside the U.S. prison system.
There has also been much speculation about whether the U.S. will impose a death sentence on Assange upon extradition, but U.S. lawyers have assured the British High Court that he will not be subjected to the death penalty or any other harsh treatment that impedes his right to free speech and equality.
In addition, the British High Court has stated that U.S. authorities must not convict Assange of crimes related to WikiLeaks at any time in the future.
Despite assurances, many of Assange’s supporters view the U.S. extradition attempt as a move to silence critical journalism and a payback for public humiliation caused by the leaks of confidential military files and reports about the U.S. military’s role in Afghanistan and Iran.
Many high-profile supporters of Assange, including pop singer Lady Gaga, actor Pamela Anderson, and Australian PM Anthony Albanese, have urged the U.S. government to drop the charges against Assange, but government officials have cited that hacking into the Pentagon’s database and releasing diplomatic cables and secret documents related to U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq has damaged the national security of the U.S., endangering the lives of countless operatives in Afghanistan and Iran.
The court hearing on Monday, crucial for Assange
The court hearing on Monday will determine the fate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. His wife and long-time legal counsel, Stella Assange (Morris), has said, “Every day since the seventh of December 2010, he has been in one form of detention or another.”
Julian married Stella inside Belmarsh prison in 2022 and has two children together. Assange’s legal representatives have stated that if the British High Court upholds the U.S. extradition order, then the only course of action would be to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights for an emergency injunction preventing deportation until further hearings can be concluded.
But if the High Court rejects the U.S. assurances, then Assange will be allowed to appeal against the extradition, although the appeal may not be heard until next year.
Amid the global outcry for Assange’s freedom, the High Court verdict on Monday may be a crucial turning point in his 13-year-long legal battle against U.S. extradition.
