WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange denied permission to appeal US extradition decision at UK Supreme Court
- Washington wants to put Assange on trial in connection with the publication of 500,000 secret military files relating to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
- WikiLeaks wrote on its Twitter account: ‘The case now moves to @UKHomeSecretary Priti Patel to authorise the extradition’
Julian Assange was on Monday denied permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court against moves to extradite him to the United States, where he could face a lifetime in prison.
Washington wants to put the WikiLeaks founder on trial in connection with the publication of 500,000 secret military files relating to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He initially won a reprieve not to send him for trial on the grounds he was a suicide risk if he was kept in solitary confinement at a maximum security US facility.
But lawyers for the US government appealed, and overturned the lower court’s decision, leading to further legal challenges.
In January, two judges allowed the 50-year-old Australian publisher permission to apply to the country’s highest court on “points of law of general public importance”.
But a spokeswoman for the court said: “The Supreme Court has refused permission to appeal … as the application didn’t raise an arguable point of law”.
She added: “The parties were informed this afternoon.”
WikiLeaks wrote on its Twitter account: “The case now moves to @UKHomeSecretary Priti Patel to authorise the extradition.”