- Patel of the United Kingdom approves the extradition request
- WikiLeaks says Assange will appeal
- Assange’s wife says it is a black day for press freedom
LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) – British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Friday approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face criminal charges, bringing his long-running legal saga to an end.
Assange is wanted by US authorities on 18 counts, including espionage charges involving the release of WikiLeaks on vast tracts of confidential US military records and diplomatic telegrams that Washington said endangered lives.
Proponents say he is a hero against the establishment, which has been a victim of exposing US atrocities in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, and that his prosecution is a politically motivated attack on journalism and freedom of speech.
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His wife, Stella, said Assange would appeal after the interior ministry said his extradition had been approved.
“In this case, the UK courts have not found that extradition of Mr Assange would be repressive, unfair or an abuse of process,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
“Nor have they established that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and freedom of expression, and that while he is in the United States, he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health.
A British judge initially ruled that Assange should not be deported, saying his mental health meant he would be at risk of suicide if convicted and imprisoned with maximum security.
But that was overturned after an appeal, after the United States gave a package of guarantees, including a promise that he could be moved to Australia to serve any sentence.
Patel’s decision does not mean the end of the Australian-born assassination battle that has lasted more than a decade and could continue for many more months.
He can appeal to the Supreme Court of London, which must approve the challenge. Ultimately, he may ask to take his case to the United Kingdom Supreme Court. But if the appeal is denied, Assange must be extradited within 28 days.
“NEW LEGAL BATTLE”
“This is a grim day for press freedom and for British democracy,” said Assange Stella’s wife. “The road to Julian’s freedom is long and winding. Today is not the end of the battle. It is only the beginning of a new court battle.”
Nick Vamos, the former head of the extradition department at the British Crown Prosecution Service, said Assange would be able to use new evidence, such as allegations that the CIA had planned to kill him, and again challenge the extradition on the grounds he initially claimed. including politically motivated. The CIA declined to comment on his allegations.
“I think he can get some traction,” Vamos told Reuters. He said extradition sentences were regularly overturned by the Supreme Court.
WikiLeaks first became known when it published a U.S. military video in 2010 showing an Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad in 2007 that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters employees.
He then released hundreds of thousands of top-secret files and diplomatic telegrams, the biggest security breach of its kind in US military history.
U.S. prosecutors and Western security officials consider Assange to be a reckless enemy of the state, whose actions endanger the lives of leaked agents.
He and his supporters say he was punished for embarrassing the government and faces 175 years in prison if convicted, although U.S. lawyers said it would be four to six years.
“Leaving Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States would put him at great risk and send a chilling message to journalists around the world,” said Agnes Kalamar, secretary general of Amnesty International.
The legal saga began in late 2010, when Sweden demanded the extradition of Assange from the UK on charges of sexual offenses. When he lost the case in 2012, he fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he spent seven years.
When he was finally released in April 2019, he was jailed for violating British bail conditions, although the Swedish case against him was dropped. He has been fighting extradition to the United States since June 2019 and remains in prison.
During his stay at the Ecuadorian embassy, he became the father of two children by his current wife, whom he married in the heavily guarded Belmarsh prison in London in March in a ceremony attended by only four guests, two official witnesses and two guards. Read more
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Report by Michael Holden; Edited by Kate Holton and Alison Williams
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