Assange can appeal extradition order to the US, court rules

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal his extradition order to the United States, a London court ruled on Monday.

Two judges, Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson, said Assange has grounds to appeal the UK’s order for his extradition – a decision that was celebrated by his supporters but is likely to prolong the years-long legal battle over Assange’s fate.

Assange was indicted on 18 counts after his website published hundreds of thousands of classified military and intelligence documents in 2010. He faces 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer misuse.

Assange’s lawyers argue that their client, who is an Australian citizen, should be protected as a journalist for publishing confidential information. The US government claims that Assange’s actions go beyond journalistic activity.

Monday’s ruling comes two months after Sharp and Johnson ruled that Assange could appeal extradition unless the United States guaranteed that Assange would not face the death penalty and that he would be granted the same First Amendment protections as an American citizen.

Although the justices rejected most of Assange’s arguments in March, they said that if Assange could not rely on First Amendment protections, he could argue that his extradition would be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights’ protections for the media. society and the press. The Associated Press reported.

Assange’s legal team argued on Monday that the US gave “blatantly inadequate” assurances that Assange would have press freedom protections. The US said Assange could try to rely on the First Amendment, but that the decision would ultimately be up to a judge.

“The real question is whether adequate assurance was provided to eliminate the real risk identified by the court,” Assange’s lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said on Monday. “It is alleged that no adequate assurance was made.”

US Attorney James Lewis argued that Assange’s conduct was “simply unprotected” by the First Amendment.

“No one, neither U.S. citizens nor foreign citizens, has the right to rely on the First Amendment regarding the publication of illegally obtained national defense information, providing names of innocent sources, at their grave and imminent risk of harm,” said the attorney from the USA, James Lewis. he argued.

Assange has been in British custody since 2019, when the Ecuadorian government revoked his political asylum status after seven years and expelled him from its embassy in London.

The Associated Press contributed.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story