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Reuters

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Friday moved a step closer to facing criminal charges in the United States for breaking spying law and conspiring to hack government computers after Washington won an appeal over his extradition in an English court.
“The court allows the appeal,” Judge Timothy Holroyde said.
The judge said he was satisfied with a package of assurances given by the US about the conditions of Assange’s detention including a pledge not to hold him in a so-called “ADX” maximum security prison in Colorado and that he would be transferred to Australia to serve his sentence if convicted.
But further hurdles remain before Assange can be sent to the US: the legal wrangling is likely to go to the Supreme Court, the final court of appeal.
CIA ‘murder’ plot report a game-changer in Assange extradition fight, fiancée says
Assange’s fiancée, Stella Moris, said his legal team would appeal the decision.
“How can it be fair, how can it be right, how can it be possible, to extradite Julian to the very country which plotted to kill him?” she said. “We will appeal this decision at the earliest possible moment.”
Judge Holroyde said the case must now be remitted to Westminster Magistrates’ Court with the direction judges send it to the British government to decide whether Assange should be extradited to the US.
Assange, who denies any wrongdoing, was not in court.


Speaking outside court, Moris said Britain was acting on behalf of a foreign power, calling the case a “vindictive prosecution against a journalist” for what he published.
“This goes to the fundamentals of press freedom and democracy,” she said.
Rights monitor Amnesty International also questioned US assurances about how Assange would be treated if extradited to face trial, calling them “inherently unreliable”.
“This is a shameful verdict in a political case against a journalist and public figure – another manifestation of the cannibalistic world view of the Anglo-Saxon alliance,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
Pro-Assange supporters gathered outside the court, waving placards and demanding his immediate release from a high-security jail in the British capital.

US authorities accuse Australian-born Assange, 50, of 18 counts relating to WikiLeaks’ release of vast troves of confidential American military records and diplomatic cables which they said had put lives in danger.
If extradited, tried and convicted, he could be jailed for up to 175 years, although the exact sentence is difficult to estimate and could be shorter.
Washington was appealing against a January 4 ruling by a London district judge that Assange should not be extradited because he would likely commit suicide in a US prison.
WikiLeaks came to prominence when it published a US military video in 2010 showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people. It then released thousands of secret classified files and diplomatic cables.
WikiLeaks founder Assange gets permission for prison marriage
US prosecutors and Western security officials regard Assange as a reckless and dangerous enemy of the state whose actions imperilled the lives of agents named in the leaked material.
Assange has been in custody since 2019 despite having served a previous sentence for breaching bail conditions in a separate case.
The maverick publisher spent seven years at Ecuador’s embassy in London to avoid being removed to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations that were later dropped.
While at the South American country’s mission, he fathered two children with Moris, who is a member of his legal team.
British authorities last month gave the couple permission to marry at Belmarsh prison in southeast London.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


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WikiLeaks

London court allows WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to US

Supporters of Julian Assange hold a banner outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Photo: Reuters

Julian Assange’s fiancée Stella Moris. Photo: AFP

CIA ‘murder’ plot report a game-changer in Julian Assange extradition fight, fiancée says

Protesters in London call for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Photo: EPA

CORRECTION / Julian Assange's partner Stella Moris attends a briefing with members of the media in London on October 25, 2021, ahead of the appeal of the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the US. - The US will on on October 27, 2021 begin its appeal to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face trial for publishing US secrets, after a British judge blocked their request in January. (Photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP) / “The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [Stella Moris] instead of [Stella Morris]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your pa

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gets permission for prison marriage

Protesters hold a “Free Julian Assange” banner as they stand on the fountain in Trafalgar Square in London on November 5. Photo: AP

Stella Morris, partner of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, speaks as supporters of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, Britain, October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

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A High Court judge said Washington had given assurances to Britain about the conditions of Assange’s detention
His fiancée said the 50-year-old, who faces criminal charges for breaking spying law, would appeal the decision



A High Court judge said Washington had given assurances to Britain about the conditions of Assange’s detention.


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