WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Fights Extradition in UK Court

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange received a potential lifeline in his years-long battle against extradition to the United States. After a UK court ruled against his immediate extradition on Tuesday. The High Court in London requested further assurances from US authorities regarding protections for Assange’s rights. If he were to be extradited and tried on espionage charges.

Assange has been locked up in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison since 2019 fighting extradition to the US. Where prosecutors have charged him under the Espionage Act and say he endangered lives by publishing classified military documents leaked by former US Army soldier Chelsea Manning in 2010. A lower court had previously approved the extradition. But Assange’s lawyers argued the case was politically motivated and he would not receive a fair trial in the US.

The Court’s Conditions

In its ruling, the High Court panel of two judges said Julian Assange had a “real prospect of success” in appealing his extradition on the grounds that it could infringe on his freedom of expression rights. And that he may face bias during his trial due to his nationality as an Australian citizen. However, the court rejected the argument that the prosecution was politically motivated.

The judges gave US authorities three weeks to provide assurances that Assange would not face the death penalty. If extradited as well as protections for his First Amendment rights to freedom of speech. Failing to provide such assurances would allow Assange to appeal his extradition at a hearing in May, potentially delaying or even derailing the process to bring him to trial in the US.