Status: 03/14/2022 7:14 p.m
For WikiLeaks founder Assange, the threat of extradition to the United States is approaching: the British Supreme Court has denied him an appeal. But even then, the last word has probably not yet been spoken.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been imprisoned in Great Britain, is not allowed to go before the country’s highest court in the legal dispute over his extradition to the USA. The Supreme Court in London announced that Assange’s lawyers’ application had been rejected. The reason given was that there were no sufficient legal grounds for this.
In December, London’s High Court gave the green light for the 50-year-old to be extradited to the United States, after which Assange’s lawyers announced an objection. Then, in January, the High Court cleared the way for such an appeal.
Spy or war crimes investigator?
The US judiciary wants to put Assange on trial for allegations of espionage. The native Australian faces up to 175 years in prison if convicted. He is accused of having stolen secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan together with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, having published it in 2010 and thereby endangering the lives of US informants. The Australian has been charged with 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer abuse.
His supporters, on the other hand, see him as an investigative journalist who has brought war crimes to light and who is now to be made an example of.
Assange has been in Belmarsh, a high-security prison in London, for the past three years. He was arrested at the time for violating bail conditions in another lawsuit. He had previously holed himself up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden. There he was charged with rape and sexual assault, but investigations in the Scandinavian country have since been dropped.
Assange still has a few options
The legal tug-of-war by the British authorities has also been dragging on for a long time. With the judgment that has now been passed, his legal options in Great Britain seem to have been exhausted. But he could still go to the European Court of Human Rights. In the event of a final defeat, the British Home Office would have to decide on extradition to the USA. But even then, Assange can attempt to challenge the decision through a judicial review.