UK court to rule on Julian Assange extradition case
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will today find out whether he will be extradited to the US to face espionage charges in a landmark press freedom case.
Assange faces 17 charges of espionage and computer fraud in the US and could be sentenced to as many as 175 years behind bars.
His fate will be decided by district judge Vanessa Baraitser, who is set to deliver her verdict at the Old Bailey at 10am.
Whoever loses today’s ruling is likely to appeal at the High Court and the case could go to the Supreme Court, further delaying the final outcome.
US authorities accuse Australia-born Assange of hacking computers and breaching security law by releasing troves of confidential military records and diplomatic cables more than a decade ago.
But his supporters say his prosecution represents an attack on journalism and free speech.
“The mere fact that this case has made it to court let alone gone on this long is an historic, large-scale attack on freedom of speech,” said Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief of Wikileaks.
“The US government should listen to the groundswell of support coming from the mainstream media editorials, NGOs around the world such as Amnesty and Reporters Without Borders and the United Nations who are all calling for these charges to be dropped. This is a fight that affects each and every person’s right to know and is being fought collectively.”
Writing in the Mail on Sunday yesterday, Assange’s partner Stella Morris said his extradition would be “an unthinkable travesty” and “politically and legally disastrous for the UK”.
The Assange saga
One of the key events exposed by Assange and Wikileaks was a military video showing a 2007 Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed dozens of people, including two Reuters news staff.
The legal case then began in 2012 when Sweden sought Assange’s extradition from Britain on allegations of sex crimes. He fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, when he was holed up for seven years.
Assange was finally removed from the embassy in 2019 and he was jailed for breaching jail conditions, though the Swedish case against him had been dropped.
Last June, the US Justice Department formally asked the UK to extradite Assange to face espionage charges.
Assange has been held on remand at Belmarsh prison in south east London for 20 months.