WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leaves Westminster Magistrates Court in London, UK.
Henry Nicholls | Reuters
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange received permission from a British court on Tuesday to appeal his extradition to the United States, where he is wanted on espionage charges.
Assange will therefore not be extradited immediately, the court said.
The ruling by the Royal Courts of Justice in London means Assange has the option to seek a new hearing unless the US provides “satisfactory assurances” on certain aspects that would address his grounds for appeal.
The court said it would give the US three weeks to ensure that Assange could invoke the First Amendment of the US Constitution, that he would not be prejudiced in the trial because of his nationality and that he would be entitled to the same protections of the First Amendment of the US Constitution as a US citizen and that he would not face the death penalty.
If these assurances are not given, an appeal hearing will be granted. A further hearing on May 20 will clarify whether the assurances given are satisfactory, the court said.
The 52-year-old has been fighting extradition for more than a decade. During that time, Assange spent seven years in self-exile in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and the last almost five years in Belmarsh, a maximum security prison on the outskirts of the British capital.
Assange is wanted in the US on 18 charges, including 17 under the Espionage Act and one under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. He faces up to 175 years in prison after WikiLeaks published hundreds of thousands of leaked classified military files and diplomatic documents related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The US says the allegations relate to Assange’s alleged role “in one of the largest compromises of classified information in United States history.”
US prosecutors want to bring Assange to justice for publishing confidential military files and diplomatic cables. Assange has denied any wrongdoing and his lawyers have said the case against him was politically motivated.
Metropolitan Police officers outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London ahead of a hearing in the extradition case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Picture date: Wednesday February 21, 2024.
James Manning – Pa Pictures | Pa Pictures | Getty Images
WikiLeaks gained international notoriety in 2010 when the site published footage of a 2007 U.S. helicopter strike that killed two Reuters news employees and several others in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Following this high-profile release, the company released hundreds of thousands more secret files, making revelations that often embarrassed Washington.
Assange did not attend a two-day hearing in February at London’s High Court because of “seriously poor health,” WikiLeaks said via social media site X at the time.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
Source link
2024-03-26 11:03:01
www.cnbc.com
