How Assange wants to stop his extradition at the last minute

The 52-year-old, who has been in the high-security Belmarsh prison in London for almost five years, was unable to attend the two-day trial in the British capital for health reasons, his lawyer said.

For Assange, the two-day hearing at the High Court in the British capital is the last hope of preventing his extradition to the USA before the British courts. He is hoping for a full appeal hearing, which he has so far been denied. If he fails, legal recourse in Great Britain would be exhausted.

Julian Assange has been in Belmarsh maximum security prison for almost 5 years
Image: (APA/AFP/DANIEL LEAL)

There is a risk of up to 175 years in prison

The US government wants to put the Australian on trial in the USA on espionage charges. If convicted there, he could face up to 175 years in prison. Washington accuses him of having, together with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, stolen and published secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, thereby endangering the lives of US informants. The US side is expected to present its arguments on Wednesday.

Assange’s lawyers argued on Tuesday, among other things, that Assange was being prosecuted for a “normal journalistic activity, obtaining and publishing secret information,” the content of which was true and obviously of great public interest. He is also a political prisoner whose extradition is prohibited by the agreement between the USA and Great Britain.

“We all need the truth”

Assange’s wife Stella appeared composed as she arrived at the court hearing in London. She thanked the several hundred supporters who gathered outside the neo-Gothic Royal Courts of Justice in central London, calling for her husband’s release with banners and chants of “Free Julian Assange Now.” “Julian needs his freedom, and we all need the truth,” she shouted to the people. Assange’s supporters also demonstrated elsewhere; a demonstration was planned for the afternoon in Vienna.

It was not clear until recently when exactly a decision would be made on the appeal. However, it was expected that it would not be announced immediately after the hearing had ended on Wednesday, but rather with a delay. However, Stella Assange fears that her husband could be put on a plane to the United States within days, as she told reporters in London last week.

Application to the Court of Human Rights planned

If his appeal in London were rejected, Assange’s only option would be to go to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Stella Assange announced that his team would immediately file an application for an interim injunction to prevent immediate extradition. However, there are concerns that the British government could ignore such an order. She fears for his life because of the harsh prison conditions expected in the USA and her husband’s unstable psyche. The risk of suicide was also the reason why a judge initially rejected extradition. But the decision was later overturned.

In an interview with the daily newspaper “Die Presse” (online edition), Stella Assange appeared pessimistic about the outcome of the current hearing – there is even “solid evidence that the US government discussed and forged concrete plans to murder Julian, from the British “wiped aside” in the courts. The USA had forged a “murder plot” against her husband. If extradited to the United States, he would face “conditions so torturous that they would drive him to suicide,” she said. In addition, the Assange case is the “biggest attack on international journalism that the world has ever seen. It criminalizes not only the journalistic process, but also the public’s right to information.”

Human rights expert sees scandal

The fact that Assange is being held in a prison for terrorists and serious criminals is a “scandal,” criticized the Austrian human rights expert Manfred Nowak in the Ö1 lunchtime journal. Because actually it’s just a case of “extradition detention”. If he were to be extradited to the USA, the WikiLeaks founder would face even more difficult prison conditions – and, above all, solitary confinement again. “That wears people down,” emphasized Nowak. The USA would try to “tackle whistleblowers like Assange or Edward Snowden as hard as possible”. He finds it “really worrying” that European states such as Great Britain and Sweden “played along” under pressure from the USA. If Assange turns to the ECHR, Nowak expects it to issue an interim injunction.

Before his arrest in April 2019, Assange had evaded law enforcement authorities for several years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. They initially targeted him because of rape allegations in Sweden. However, these allegations were later dropped due to lack of evidence.

Hoping for a political solution

In addition to success in the legal tug-of-war, Assange hopes for a political solution. The Australian government is now campaigning for the release of its citizen. Just last week, the Australian Parliament passed a resolution calling on the US and Britain to end the prosecution of Assange. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasized that the matter had been dragging on for too long. However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has repeatedly rejected calls for an end to law enforcement.

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