UK Court Rejects Assange Extradition Appeal

Improve the News Foundation -

Facts

  • According to a court order issued on Friday, Julian Assange has lost his latest challenge at London's High Court, which has deemed that the WikiLeaks founder lacks the legal grounds to appeal his extradition from the UK to the US, where he is wanted on criminal charges.1
  • While a January 2021 ruling determined that Assange shouldn't be extradited to the US due to a potential risk of suicide, US authorities successfully appealed the decision. Australian-born Assange currently remains in Belmarsh prison in South-East London.2
  • The ruling, officially made Tuesday, rejected eight grounds of Assange's appeal, signed by then-UK home secretary Priti Patel in June 2022. Assange faces 18 charges over the publication of classified US documents with a potential combined sentence of up to 175 years in prison.3
  • Assange is expected to file a new challenge to the decision next week, according to a statement released by his lawyer and wife. Such an appeal is the last domestic avenue available for the WikiLeaks' founder, who has fought the extradition attempts for over three years.4
  • Lawyers have five working days to submit a maximum 20-page appeal to a panel of two judges, who will convene a public hearing. It does, however, remain possible for Assange to bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights.5

Sources: 1Reuters, 2Independent, 3Guardian, 4Peoples Dispatch, and 5DAWN.

Narratives

  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by RSF. This legal decision is extremely concerning, bringing Assange — victimized for exposing US crimes — dangerously close to being extradited. Assange shouldn't continue to be targeted, and instead, journalism and freedom of the press should be protected. The historical weight of the outcome of such a saga cannot be overstated, and Pres. Biden must urgently drop the charges and close the case against Assange.
  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Federalist. While many see Assange as a freedom fighter, the reality is that WikiLeaks is a Russian front for undermining the US. His publication of classified information put an untold amount of lives at risk, and this cannot be ignored. For sensible people, the evidence is damning —Assange must face the consequences of his actions in the US.

Predictions