Since 2019, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been held in a high-security prison in southeast London while his lawyers fight a US extradition order. Now, that battle may be nearing its end.
On Tuesday, Assange’s case will return to a British court for a two-day hearing. The hearing will determine whether he has exhausted his right to appeal in the UK and whether he is any closer to being referred to the US.
Lawyers said Assange did not appear in court, refusing to appear virtually due to illness, but dozens of demonstrators gathered outside to demand his release.
In the United States, Assange, 52, is facing charges under the Espionage Act of 1917, which his lawyers say could carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison, but the U.S. His lawyers had previously said he was likely to receive a sentence of four to six years. Here’s what you need to know about the long legal battle over his extradition and what might happen next.
Assange has been in a British prison for nearly five years. Here’s why:
The US charges against Assange date back to 2010, when WikiLeaks released tens of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents leaked by military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
The files exposed hidden diplomatic dealings and included revelations about civilian deaths in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In May 2019, during the Trump era, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Assange with violating the Espionage Act by soliciting and releasing classified government information, a serious violation of the First Amendment. It raises the question. (The Obama administration considered charging Assange but abandoned it, citing threats to press freedom.)
Mr. Assange has been trying for years to have his extradition from Britain to fight US charges, but his life in limbo in London goes back even further.
In June 2012, Mr. Assange entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was questioned on unrelated charges of sexual misconduct and rape, which were later dropped. He stayed at the embassy for the next seven years.
In April 2019, he was kicked out of the embassy as an unwelcome guest and arrested shortly after failing to post bail. A few weeks later, the U.S. Department of Justice released an indictment charging Assange with 18 counts of violating the Espionage Act for participating in a criminal hacking conspiracy and encouraging hackers to steal classified materials. (Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013, but was released in 2017 after President Obama commuted his sentence.)
Mr Assange’s team said the hearing was “the beginning of the end” for extradition challenges in British courts.
The extradition order against Assange was initially rejected by a British judge in January 2021, who ruled that Assange was a suicide risk if sent to a US prison. Britain’s High Court later reversed that decision following assurances from American officials about his treatment. Priti Patel, then British Home Secretary, approved the extradition request in 2022.
But legal challenges continued. Mr. Assange’s lawyers had previously requested an appeal against Mr. Patel’s order, which was rejected by a single judge. Two High Court judges will now hear the final arguments on his appeal in a British court.
Mr. Assange’s legal team was expected to outline the case on Tuesday, followed by the US Department of Justice’s legal team. The judge then considers the case, which can take hours, days, or weeks, before announcing a decision.
And there are some potential consequences. The judges could grant Assange’s appeal against the extradition order, which would schedule a full appeals hearing and open the door to a new decision on his extradition.
Alternatively, if Assange’s appeal request is denied, he could be quickly sent on a flight to the United States, his lawyers said. However, his lawyers vowed to challenge his extradition at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
In theory, extradition could be blocked until the case is heard in Strasbourg, as the UK is obliged as a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights to abide by the court’s ruling.
The process took a toll on Assange’s health. And human rights groups have expressed concern about what will happen next.
Mr Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, said at a press conference last week that her husband, who suffers from depression, had aged prematurely during his years in prison and was worried about his mental and physical health. .
“His life is in danger every day in prison and he will die if he is extradited,” she said. The pair, who began dating while Assange was living in the Ecuadorian embassy, have two children and regularly visit Assange in prison.
“Julian and I protect our children. They frankly don’t know,” Assange said of the charges against him. “And I don’t think it’s fair for them to know what’s going on.”
Alice Gilles Edwards, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture, has called on the UK to halt the extradition of Assange, citing concerns that he would be subject to treatment amounting to torture and other punishments. did. In her statement earlier this month, she said she faced “prolonged solitary confinement despite the precarious state of her mental health” and that she risked a potentially disproportionate sentence. It pointed out.
The Australian government has also called for Assange, an Australian citizen, to be extradited to his home country, and the country’s parliament last week passed a motion calling for his release. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he discussed the issue in a meeting with President Biden last fall, and on Thursday Mr Albanese told the Australian Parliament: “These countries need to conclude this.”
Rights groups such as Amnesty International and press freedom advocates such as Reporters Without Borders have long called for the U.S. to drop the charges against Assange and rescind the extradition order.
Rebecca Vincent, head of international campaigns for Reporters Without Borders, said in a statement ahead of the hearing that the US could withdraw the extradition request or consider Assange serving his sentence at Belmarsh Prison when the deadline expires. said.
“None of this is inevitable,” Vincent said in a statement ahead of the hearing. “No one should be treated that way for releasing information in the public interest.”