Julian Assange’s lawyers have filed their last appeal in a UK court, challenging the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the US for espionage trials related to government secrets he disclosed on his website.
Assange, detained in London for five years, claimed the public had a right to access the information.
The American extradition request has been opposed by the 52-year-old Australian journalist and activist for over ten years. His attorneys began the final court case that might be filed on their behalf in the British legal system on Tuesday.
Two justices of the London High Court are being asked to give Assange another opportunity to appeal the British government’s 2022 ruling that he can be extradited to the United States lawfully. Tuesday, Stella Assange entered the courtroom accompanied by a significant number of supporters who were calling for her husband’s instant release.
As the hail began, Ed Fitzgerald, one of Assange’s lawyers, told the court the WikiLeaks author was not attending the Tuesday hail because he felt bad One of the judges made it clear that he’d been invited to attend, either in person or via video link. Fitzgerald didn’t give any further detail on Assange’s health.
WHAT IS THIS HEARING ABOUT ?
He will be able to request that the European Court of Human Rights halt the extradition if the judges allow him to file a new appeal. Since the extradition order was signed around a year and a half ago, he will probably be placed on a plane to appear in U.S. courts if the appeal is denied and potentially even if the court rules in his favour.
Although the hearing is set to go for two days, the High Court judges, Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson, may take weeks to reach a decision. However, a decision might be made as soon as Wednesday.
What accusations does the United States have against Assange and If Assange is found guilty, what punishment might he get?
In 2019, a federal grand jury in Virginia charged Julian Assange with 18 counts of publishing secret materials made public in 2010, including one case of computer penetration and seventeen counts of espionage.
According to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Assange assisted former U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning in “unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defence.”
Video from a 2007 American military helicopter strike in Baghdad that claimed eleven lives was one of WikiLeaks’ most controversial releases. According to the Department of Justice, Assange may spend up to 10 years in jail for
each count of espionage on which he is found guilty, and an additional five years for the conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.
Though the actual term would probably be less, he might spend up to 175 years in jail if all the charges were found to be true.
What are the opinions of Assange’s supporters?
Many of Assange’s supporters have connected the struggle to prevent his extradition to the United States to the struggle for journalistic freedom and the right to a fair trial. This week, the daily The Guardian made the case in its editorial section that journalists need sources like Assange, especially when it comes to issues of national
security.
Reporters Without Borders campaign director Rebecca Vincent stated in a statement that even in the event that this final appeal is denied, “the U.S. government still has the authority to put an end to this legal catastrophe by abandoning its 13-year-old case against Assange and ending this unending persecution.” It is unacceptable to
treat someone this way for disclosing facts that the public needs to know. It’s time to defend journalistic independence, press freedom, and our collective right to know.”
Concerns have also been raised about Julian’s mental and physical health. Assange would be “at risk of serious human rights violations, including possible detention conditions that would amount to torture and other ill treatment,”
according to Amnesty International, if he were to be extradited. Artist vows to demolish works of art in the event that Assange passes away in jail Declaring in a statement released on Monday that “there could not be more at stake in a single court case than there is in Julian’s case,” Stella Assange urged her supporters to demonstrate in front of the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday and Wednesday, the dates of the appeal hearings.
“Journalists must have the right to report the facts that governments and corporations want to hide,
otherwise a truly free press is impossible.”
She said in an interview with the BBC that her husband’s physical and mental weakness would prevent him from surviving an extradition to the United States. “Basically, this case will determine if he lives or dies,” she stated to the network that partners with News.
What led to Assange’s detention in the United Kingdom?
In order to escape being extradited to Sweden, where he was the subject of a sexual assault investigation, Julian sought sanctuary at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012. No charges were ever brought, and that investigation was eventually discontinued.
Ecuador withdrew Assange’s asylum status in 2019 after seven years of hiding in the embassy, claiming the government had reached its limit on his behavior. Assange has been detained since leaving the embassy, when London’s Metropolitan Police arrested him for not appearing in court on a 2012 warrant.
