Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, has failed his latest bid to prevent extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States, where he is wanted on criminal charges, though he will retry his appeal next week.
Assange, 51, is wanted by US authorities on 18 crimes related to Wikileaks’ revelation of massive amounts of classified US military documents and diplomatic cables.
According to a court order issued on Friday, Britain has granted the go-ahead for his extradition, and a judge at London’s High Court determined this week that Assange had no legal grounds to oppose the decision.
However, his wife, Stella Assange, said there will be a hearing next week at which Assange will again appeal against the decision to extradite him.
“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 U.S. government,” she said on Twitter.
In January 2021, a British judge ruled that Australian-born Assange should not be extradited, saying his mental health meant he would be at risk of suicide if convicted and held in a maximum-security prison.
But that decision was overturned after an appeal by U.S. authorities, who gave a package of assurances, including a pledge that he could be transferred to Australia to serve any sentence.
The extradition was signed off by the then-British interior minister last June.
WikiLeaks first came to prominence in 2010 when it released hundreds of thousands of secret classified files and diplomatic cables in what was the largest security breach of its kind in US military history.
Reuters
