Court: Julian Assange can appeal the extradition decision

2024-05-20 17:06:02, Kosova & Bota CNA

Court: Julian Assange can appeal the extradition decision

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may appeal an order to extradite him to the United States on espionage charges. The ruling, which was handed down Monday by a London court, is likely to drag out even further what has already been a long legal saga.

High Court judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson said Mr Assange has grounds to challenge the UK government's extradition order.

The 52-year-old Julian Assange is charged with 17 counts of espionage and one count of malicious use of a computer, related to the publication about 15 years ago on his website of classified American documents.

The court's decision was met with cheers from Mr Assange's supporters gathered outside its doors.

The Australian computer expert has spent the past five years in a high-security British prison after sheltering in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for seven years.

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Julian Assange was not in court to hear the verdict due to health reasons, according to his lawyer.

Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said prosecutors had failed to ensure that Mr Assange, who is an Australian citizen and claims immunity as a journalist for publishing classified US government information, could rely on First Amendment freedom of expression protections .

US prosecutors allege that Mr Assange encouraged and aided US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to steal diplomatic cables and military files that were published on WikiLeaks.

Mr Assange's lawyers say he was a journalist who exposed abuses by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sending him to the US, they said, would expose Mr Assange to the possibility of a politically motivated prosecution and risk a "flagrant denial of justice".

The US government says Julian Assange's actions went far beyond that of a journalist gathering information and were an attempt to seek, steal and indiscriminately publish classified government documents.

Court: Julian Assange can appeal the extradition decision

In March, two High Court judges rejected most of Mr Assange's arguments, but said he could take his case to the Court of Appeal unless the United States guaranteed he would not face punishment. death if extradited and that he would enjoy the same free speech protection as any American citizen.

The court said that if Mr Assange could not rely on the First Amendment, then that would make his extradition moot if it was inconsistent with the European Convention on Human Rights, which also provides for freedom of expression and protection of the media. .

The United States says Mr. Assange can seek to rely on the First Amendment, but it will be up to a judge to decide whether he can do so.

Lawyer James Lewis, representing the US government, said Mr Assange's comments were not "protected" by the First Amendment.

" No one, American citizens or foreign nationals, has the right to rely on the First Amendment in connection with the publication of illegally obtained national defense information, naming innocent sources and exposing them to an immediate risk of harm ," he said.

Mr. Assange's lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted, but US authorities have said that any decision on his sentence would provide for a much shorter sentence./ VOA