Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has secured the right to appeal a London court’s decision to extradite him to the United States. The ruling was made on Monday, offering Assange an option for his prolonged legal battle against charges that could see him face severe penalties in the US.
Assange, 52, has been detained in Belmarsh Prison since his removal from the Ecuadorian Embassy in April 2019, where he had sought asylum for nearly seven years. The US government has charged him with 18 counts, including espionage and hacking government computers, linked to WikiLeaks’ controversial 2010 release of thousands of classified documents.
The legal team representing Assange argued that the assurances given by the US regarding his treatment were “blatantly inadequate.” Edward Fitzgerald, one of Assange’s lawyers, highlighted the failure of US prosecutors to guarantee that Assange would benefit from press protections under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
“The real issue is whether an adequate assurance has been provided to remove the real risk identified by the court,” Fitzgerald stated. “It is submitted that no adequate assurance has been made.”
Assange’s defense maintains that he was acting as a journalist, revealing U.S. military misconduct in Iraq and Afghanistan. They warn that extraditing him could lead to a “flagrant denial of justice” and expose him to a politically charged trial.
Founded in 2006, WikiLeaks provided a platform for whistleblowers to release sensitive documents anonymously. The organisation shot to international prominence in 2010 after publishing a vast array of classified US military and diplomatic cables, sourced from former US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
With inputs from agencies.