Court Dismisses Julian Assange’s Appeal To Stop US Extradition

Julian Assange has failed in his attempt to avoid being extradited to the US on espionage accusations.

The 51-year-old Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, filed the appeal in June of last year after former Home Secretary Priti Patel authorized his dismissal.

The High Court rendered a verdict in closed session on Monday.

Assange will appeal the ruling, according to his wife, human rights attorney Stella Assange.

She tweeted: “On Tuesday next week my husband will make a renewed application for appeal to the High Court.

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“The matter will then proceed to a public hearing before two new judges at the High Court and we remain optimistic that we will prevail and that Julian will not be extradited to the United States where he faces charges that could result in him spending the rest of his life in a maximum security prison for publishing true information that revealed war crimes committed by the US government.”

The Freedom of the Press Foundation said it was “highly disappointed by the UK High Court’s rejection of Julian Assange’s appeal of his extradition to the United States on Espionage Act charges.”

Director of Advocacy Seth Stern said: “The idea of Assange or anyone being tried in a U.S. court for obtaining and publishing confidential documents the same way investigative reporters do every day should be terrifying to all Americans.

“If [President Joe] Biden lets this case proceed, future administrations will surely use the precedent of the Assange prosecution, and the unconstitutional authority to criminalize newsgathering that Biden is claiming, to go after journalists they don’t like.

“It’s time for Biden to drop this case and show the world he’s serious about press freedom.”

There is still a potential that courts in Europe will step in at the last minute to prevent his extradition.

Assange filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in December.

The European Court would have to issue an immediate restraining order, or a Rule 39 order, to prevent his extradition at this time.

This enables a court to effectively halt all actions until the outcome of additional legal proceedings to determine the case’s merits.