LONDON: Julian Assange‘s attorneys opened a remaining UK authorized problem on Tuesday to cease the WikiLeaks founder from being despatched to the US to face spying prices, arguing that American authorities are looking for to punish him for exposing critical prison acts by the US state.
Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald mentioned Assange could “undergo a flagrant denial of justice” if he’s despatched to the US. At a two-day excessive court docket listening to, Assange’s attorneys are asking judges to grant a brand new attraction, his final authorized roll of the cube in Britain. Assange himself was not in court docket. Fitzgerald mentioned the 52-year-old Australian was unwell however didn’t elaborate on his well being.
Assange has been combating extradition for greater than a decade, together with seven years in self-exile within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the final 5 years within the high-security jail on the outskirts of the British capital. He has been indicted on 17 prices of espionage and one cost of pc misuse over his web site’s publication of categorized US paperwork virtually 15 years in the past. US prosecutors say Assange helped US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and army recordsdata that WikiLeaks later revealed, placing lives in danger. To his supporters, Assange is a secrecy-busting journalist who uncovered US army wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lots of of supporters holding “Free Julian Assange” indicators gathered outdoors the neo-Gothic excessive court docket in London. Assange’s spouse Stella, referring to the Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny who died in jail final week, mentioned: “What occurred to Navalny can occur to Julian, and can occur to Julian if he’s extradited.”
If the judges rule in opposition to Assange, he can ask the European Courtroom of Human Rights to dam his extradition – although supporters fear he could possibly be placed on a aircraft to the US earlier than that occurs, as a result of the UK govt has already signed an extradition order. His attorneys say he may resist 175 years in jail if convicted, although US authorities have mentioned the sentence is prone to be a lot shorter. Assange’s attorneys argued that the prosecution is politically motivated retaliation for WikiLeaks’ “publicity of criminality on the a part of the US authorities on an unprecedented scale,” together with torture and killings.
“The US was ready to go to any lengths (together with misusing its personal prison justice system) to maintain impunity for US officers in respect of the torture/battle crimes dedicated in its notorious ‘battle on terror,’ and to suppress these actors and courts keen and ready to attempt to deliver these crimes to account,” Assange’s attorneys mentioned in written arguments. “Mr. Assange was a kind of targets.”
Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald mentioned Assange could “undergo a flagrant denial of justice” if he’s despatched to the US. At a two-day excessive court docket listening to, Assange’s attorneys are asking judges to grant a brand new attraction, his final authorized roll of the cube in Britain. Assange himself was not in court docket. Fitzgerald mentioned the 52-year-old Australian was unwell however didn’t elaborate on his well being.
Assange has been combating extradition for greater than a decade, together with seven years in self-exile within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the final 5 years within the high-security jail on the outskirts of the British capital. He has been indicted on 17 prices of espionage and one cost of pc misuse over his web site’s publication of categorized US paperwork virtually 15 years in the past. US prosecutors say Assange helped US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and army recordsdata that WikiLeaks later revealed, placing lives in danger. To his supporters, Assange is a secrecy-busting journalist who uncovered US army wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lots of of supporters holding “Free Julian Assange” indicators gathered outdoors the neo-Gothic excessive court docket in London. Assange’s spouse Stella, referring to the Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny who died in jail final week, mentioned: “What occurred to Navalny can occur to Julian, and can occur to Julian if he’s extradited.”
If the judges rule in opposition to Assange, he can ask the European Courtroom of Human Rights to dam his extradition – although supporters fear he could possibly be placed on a aircraft to the US earlier than that occurs, as a result of the UK govt has already signed an extradition order. His attorneys say he may resist 175 years in jail if convicted, although US authorities have mentioned the sentence is prone to be a lot shorter. Assange’s attorneys argued that the prosecution is politically motivated retaliation for WikiLeaks’ “publicity of criminality on the a part of the US authorities on an unprecedented scale,” together with torture and killings.
“The US was ready to go to any lengths (together with misusing its personal prison justice system) to maintain impunity for US officers in respect of the torture/battle crimes dedicated in its notorious ‘battle on terror,’ and to suppress these actors and courts keen and ready to attempt to deliver these crimes to account,” Assange’s attorneys mentioned in written arguments. “Mr. Assange was a kind of targets.”
