Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder Assange may not be extradited immediately

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may not be extradited to the USA immediately. This was decided by the British High Court. The court initially demanded security guarantees from the USA in the event of the whistleblower being extradited.

The US government must guarantee “in a satisfactory manner” within three weeks that Assange will face a trial in the USA that takes into account freedom of expression and freedom of the press and that he will not face a death sentence, the court said. If the US government delivers the guarantees, a decision will be made in May as to whether they are sufficient. Only then will a final decision be made on the appeal application. However, if there were no guarantees at all, Assange’s appeal would be heard, the court said. In this case, the court gives Assange’s appeal a “real chance of success.”

According to the verdict, this is justified by three of the nine grounds of appeal cited by Assange’s defense. Accordingly, extradition could be incompatible with the right to freedom of expression. In addition, Assange could be disadvantaged in a US court because of his nationality. Finally, if he is extradited, he may not be adequately protected from the death penalty.

However, the court did not see any right to appeal on the grounds that the US charges against Assange were politically motivated. As evidence of this, Assange cited a planned kidnapping on British soil by the US secret service CIA. However, the court ruled that this was “not related to the extradition proceedings”.

The verdict gives Assange time – but no security

The High Court’s latest decision postpones a final decision on whether Assange’s legal remedies in the UK against the British government’s extradition decision have been fully exhausted.

In a ruling in June 2023, another judge on the court rejected Assange’s appeal against the British government’s extradition decision. Relatives and defenders of Assange then feared that a quick extradition to the USA could follow. Assange appealed and has now achieved partial success.

There was initially no reaction from the US government. Whether and how the USA will provide the required guarantees remains to be seen. If the USA provides the required guarantees and the extradition request is granted, Assange’s last resort would be to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. However, the organization Reporters Without Borders until recently considered it questionable whether a decision there could prevent extradition by Great Britain to the USA.

Assange faces 175 years in prison

The 52-year-old Assange has been in the British high-security Belmarsh prison for almost five years. The native Australian had previously been granted political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for almost seven years.

Assange is awaiting trial in the USA on espionage charges. The organization he co-founded, WikiLeaks, had published secret material about US diplomatic and military activities in collaboration with US whistleblower Chelsea Manning. If extradited to the USA, Assange could be sentenced to a prison sentence of up to 175 years.

Manning, who was pardoned by US President Barack Obama after a sentence of 35 years in prison, was temporarily in custody because she did not want to testify against Assange. The UN accuses the US government of torture in her case. The efforts against Assange’s extradition should also be seen against this background.

The approximately 700,000 secret documents that were published via WikiLeaks contained, among other things, information about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The publication revealed, among other things, the targeted killing of civilians and the mistreatment of prisoners by the USA.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may not be extradited to the USA immediately. This was decided by the British High Court. The court initially demanded security guarantees from the USA in the event of the whistleblower being extradited.

The US government must guarantee “in a satisfactory manner” within three weeks that Assange will face a trial in the USA that takes into account freedom of expression and freedom of the press and that he will not face a death sentence, the court said. If the US government delivers the guarantees, a decision will be made in May as to whether they are sufficient. Only then will a final decision be made on the appeal application. However, if there were no guarantees at all, Assange’s appeal would be heard, the court said. In this case, the court gives Assange’s appeal a “real chance of success.”

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