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London (AP) – Julian Assange’s Lawyers launch final legal challenge in Britain on Tuesday to stop WikiLeaks founder sent to united states To face espionage charges, arguing that US authorities want to punish him for exposing serious criminal acts by the US government.
Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said Assange “could face a gross denial of justice” if extradited to the US. At a two-day High Court hearing, Assange’s lawyers are asking judges to accept a new appeal. last legal roll of the die in Britain.
Assange himself was not in court. Judge Victoria Sharp said he had been given permission to travel from Belmarsh prison to the hearing, but he chose not to attend. Fitzgerald said the 52-year-old Australian was unwell.
stella assangeHis wife said Julian wanted to attend, but his health was “not in good shape.”
“He was sick over Christmas, he’s had a cough ever since,” he told The Associated Press. He said the WikiLeaks founder was following the proceedings through his lawyers.
Assange’s family and supporters say that his physical and mental health has been affected during this period. Legal battle lasting more than a decade, That includes seven years in self-imposed exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the last five years in a high-security prison on the outskirts of the British capital.
He has been charged with 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer misuse over the publication of classified US documents on his website nearly 15 years ago. US prosecutors say Assange helped US military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that were later published by WikiLeaks, putting her life in danger.
To his supporters, Assange is a privacy-busting journalist who exposed U.S. military misdeeds in Iraq and Afghanistan. They argue that the prosecution is politically motivated and that they will not get a fair trial in the US
Hundreds of supporters protested outside the neo-Gothic High Court in London, carrying signs saying “Free Julian Assange” and chanting “There is only one verdict – no extradition”. Rallies were also held in cities around the world, including Rome, Brussels and Berlin.
“If Julian Assange is successfully extradited to the US, journalists around the world will have to watch their backs,” said Simon Crowther, legal adviser to human rights group Amnesty International.
Stella Assange told the crowd that the case was about “the right to be able to speak freely without being jailed and without being persecuted and terrorized by the state”.
Referring to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison last week, he said: “What happened to Navalny can happen to Julian, and if he is extradited, the same can happen to Julian.” It will happen.”
Stella Assange, who WikiLeaks founder to marry in jail in 2022 – Said last week that his health had deteriorated during his years of imprisonment and that “if he were extradited, he would die.”
If the judge rules against Assange, he could ask the European Court of Human Rights to block his extradition – although supporters worry he could be put on a plane to the US before that happens, as the British government Has already signed the extradition order.
Assange’s lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted, although US officials have said the sentence is likely to be much less.
While many of Assange’s arguments against extradition have already been rejected by British courts, his lawyers are trying to make new points to secure an appeal.
Assange’s lawyers argued that the prosecution was politically motivated retaliation for WikiLeaks’ “exposing criminality on the part of the US government on an unprecedented scale”, including torture and murders.
“The US will go to any lengths (including abusing its own criminal justice system) to maintain impunity and suppress those actors and courts that prosecute US officials in connection with atrocities/war crimes committed in its notorious ‘War on Terror’ Assange is “willing and ready to pursue the crimes he committed,” Assange’s lawyers said in written submissions. “Mr. “Assange was one of those targets.”
Assange’s lawyers also want the judge to reconsider allegations that the CIA planned to kidnap or assassinate Assange while he was at the Ecuadorian embassy. A lower court judge has rejected the claims, but Assange’s lawyer Mark Summers said on Tuesday there was evidence “the conspiracy was real.”
“There was a plot to kidnap Mr. Assange, take him to the United States, or outright assassinate him,” he claimed.
Fitzgerald said there is “the real possibility of the return of a Trump administration” that is prepared to consider “additional judicial strikes, or worse” against Assange.
US government lawyers will present their case on Wednesday. James Lewis, representing the US, said Assange was being prosecuted “because he is accused of serious criminal offences.”
They argued in written submissions that Assange’s actions “risk harming the strategic and national security interests of the United States” and that the individuals named in the documents – including Iraqis and Afghans who helped US forces – at risk of “serious physical harm”.
Assange’s legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request of Sweden, which wanted to interrogate him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two women. In 2012, Assange jumped bail and took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy.
Relationship between Assange and his hosts Ultimately soured and was evicted From the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested and jailed him in 2012 for violating bail. sweden investigation into sexual crimes stopped In November 2019 because so much time had passed.
judge of a British district court US extradition request rejected In 2021 on the grounds that Assange would be likely to commit suicide if kept in the harsh conditions of a US prison. high Court overturned that decision After getting assurance from America about his treatment. The British government signed the extradition order in June 2022.
meanwhile, Australian Parliament summoned Assange last week Be allowed to return to your country.
The judges, Sharp and Jeremy Johnson, are expected to issue a ruling at the end of the hearing on Wednesday, but they are likely to take several weeks to consider their decision.
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Associated Press video journalists Kyoung Ha and Joe Kearney contributed to this report.
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