A British court on Tuesday ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States to face espionage charges unless American authorities guarantee he will not face the death penalty, according to reports. Associated Press.
The revelations mark a partial victory for whistleblowers after a long legal battle over WikiLeaks’ release of classified US documents. The report said two high court judges said they would grant Mr Assange a new appeal unless US authorities provide information about what would happen to him if he were detained in the US.
If the United States does not fully explain what will happen to Assange, the whistleblower could remain in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison, where he has spent the past five years.
According to the paper, two judges, Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson, said Assange “should be afforded the same First Amendment protections as citizens of the United States and should not be subject to the death penalty.” leader telegram. The judges went on to say that if the United States could provide new assurances, it would “give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before making a final decision on the motion for stay of appeal.”
If the US makes such a submission, the judges are scheduled to hold a hearing on May 20, according to reports.
Assange’s wife echoed the situation, saying the WikiLeaks founder was “being persecuted for exposing the true cost of war in human lives” and added: “The Biden administration should not be issuing guarantees. “The lawsuit should be dropped and should be dropped,” he added. I have never been brought in. ”
The judges rejected six of Assange’s nine grounds of appeal, including the charge that the charges against him were political in nature. They noted that Assange “acted on the basis of his political beliefs…but this does not follow that his extradition request was made on the basis of his political views.”
The Associated Press also noted that a judge ruled that Assange could not appeal based on allegations that the CIA plotted his murder or kidnapping while Assange was still in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. .
The judges concluded that while “clearly these are very serious allegations,” they were not relevant to the extradition request.
“Upon extradition, he would be lawfully in the custody of U.S. authorities, and there would be no basis for extradition, kidnapping, or assassination (if you can call it that),” the ruling said.
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