WikiLeaks Case: UK Delays Extradition of Secret Documents Leaker Julian Assange to US, Facing 175 Years in Prison
Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks website used to publish stolen secret US military documents, was granted permission by a British court on Tuesday to appeal against his extradition to the United States, where he is accused of espionage and faces 175 years in prison.
This was reported by Politico.
US prosecutors allege that the WikiLeaks founder encouraged and assisted US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to steal diplomatic cables and military files published by his website. The 52-year-old's supporters say he is a hero who is being persecuted for exposing US wrongdoing.
The decision of the High Court in London means that Assange will now continue to be held in the high-security Belmarsh prison in south-east London, where he has been held since April 2019.
Assange will be allowed a full hearing on his extradition appeal in May.
The court said it would give the US three weeks to provide assurances that Assange is allowed to rely on the First Amendment to the US Constitution, that he will not be disadvantaged in court because of his citizenship, that he will be afforded the same protection as a US citizen, and that he will not be sentenced to death.
The next hearing of the case is scheduled for 20 May.
The trial against Assange began in 2010 after the publication of hundreds of thousands of documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
If extradited to America, Assange's lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in prison. In turn, lawyers for the US government argue that Assange's actions endanger the lives of innocent people.
Earlier, the Supreme Court ruled that Assange could be extradited in December 2021 after assurances that he would not be subject to restrictive measures.
Julian Assange is an Australian journalist who founded the WikiLeaks website in 2006, which published stolen classified materials on corruption, espionage, war crimes, diplomacy, etc. Assange was charged with 18 counts, including conspiracy to hack into government computers and violating the Espionage Act.
His website WikiLeaks gained popularity in 2010 when it published a video of the 2007 Apache helicopter attack by US forces in Baghdad that killed 11 people, including two journalists.
Since then, the site has published hundreds of thousands of other classified files, making public classified information that has often embarrassed Washington.