Julian Assange is set to face espionage charges in an American court after the U.K. approved his extradition order Friday.
The green light for Assange’s extradition comes after the U.K.’s highest court denied his appeal against the move last month. London’s supreme court ruled there were no legal questions about how the notorious whistleblower would be treated by American authorities.
Assange’s legal team will now have 14 days to appeal against the decision after the extradition order was signed by Priti Patel, the U.K.’s home secretary.
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If the appeal fails, Assange will be flown to the U.S. to face what is likely to be one of the most high-profile trials in recent memory. American authorities have wanted to prosecute the Australian editor since his 2010 publication of record-breaking military leaks provided by whistleblower Chelsea Manning about U.S. forces’ wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Washington has long argued the blizzard of leaks put lives at risk.
“Under the Extradition Act 2003, the secretary of state must sign an extradition order if there are no grounds to prohibit the order being made,” a U.K. Home Office spokesperson said. “Extradition requests are only sent to the home secretary once a judge decides it can proceed after considering various aspects of the case.
“On 17 June, following consideration by both the magistrates court and high court, the extradition of Mr Julian Assange to the US was ordered. Mr Assange retains the normal 14-day right to appeal. In this case, the U.K. courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr Assange.
“Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health.”
Assange spent seven years living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London after breaching bail to avoid a separate extradition order to Sweden where he faced sexual assault charges. The Swedish charges were dropped in 2019—the same year Ecuador withdrew Assange’s asylum after a series of disputes. Upon leaving the embassy in April 2019, Assange was arrested by British police for breaching his bail order. He has spent the last three years in the high-security Belmarsh prison, where he married lawyer Stella Morris in March.
“We’re going to fight this. We’re going to use every appeal avenue,” Stella told reporters Friday, adding that the decision was a “travesty.” “I’m going to spend every waking hour fighting for Julian until he is free, until justice is served.”
WikiLeaks vowed to appeal the latest decision which they said could lead to Assange facing a 175-year prison sentence. “This is a dark day for press freedom and for British democracy,” WikiLeaks said in a statement posted on Twitter. “Anyone in [the U.K.] who cares about freedom of expression should be deeply ashamed that the Home Secretary has approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, the country that plotted his assassination,” the statement continued, referring to a Yahoo News story last year alleging the CIA discussed planning to kidnap or kill Assange in London in 2017.
“Make no mistake, this has always been a political case,” a WikiLeaks spokesperson added. “Julian published evidence that the country trying to extradite him committed war crimes and covered them up; tortured and rendered; bribed foreign officials; and corrupted judicial inquiries into US wrongdoing. Their revenge is to try to disappear him into the darkest recesses of their prison system for the rest of his life to deter others from holding governments to account.”
“Allowing Julian Assange to be extradited to the U.S. would put him at great risk and sends a chilling message to journalists the world over,” Amnesty International General Secretary Agnes Callamard said in response to the U.K.’s decision. “If the extradition proceeds, Amnesty International is extremely concerned that Assange faces a high risk of prolonged solitary confinement, which would violate the prohibition on torture or other ill treatment. Diplomatic assurances provided by the U.S. that Assange will not be kept in solitary confinement cannot be taken on face value given previous history.”
