Photo: The Guardian
Britain’s Judicial Office announced on Tuesday 11th June that Julian Assange’s appeal against extradition to the US would be heard on 9th and 10th July 2024.
Assange has been indicted on 17 charges under the US Espionage Act of 1917, plus one charge of computer misuse, as a result of publishing classified US military records and diplomatic cables on the WikiLeaks website almost 15 years ago. These documents exposed war crimes committed by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other matters of public interest. If convicted, Assange faces a sentence of up to 175 years in a US supermax prison.
On 26th March this year, two judges of London’s high court deferred a decision on whether Assange would be granted a further appeal hearing. On that occasion, the judges ruled that Assange’s legal team would be able to bring an appeal against extradition on three grounds, unless satisfactory assurances were received from US authorities.
The assurances requested comprised the following:
- that Assange would be permitted to rely on the First Amendment of the US constitution which protects freedom of speech;
- that he would not be disadvantaged at trial due to his nationality;
- that the death penalty would not be applicable.
On 20th May, following an assessment of “assurances” submitted by the US, the judges found that requirements (1) and (2) above had not been satisfied. On these grounds, Assange was granted leave to appeal his extradition from Britain to the US.
That appeal has been scheduled for 9th and 10th July 2024.
Petition
A petition calling for an end to the prosecution of Julian Assange can be accessed here. As of 12th June 2024, the petition has attracted 125,902 signatures and is still open.
More information
Refer to the following MPG posts: Julian Assange extradition: US fails to guarantee First Amendment protection April 17, 2024 and Julian Assange’s last-ditch attempt to avoid extradition to the US, Feb 25, 2024.