Julian Assange

This morning, Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London issued an extradition order to the United States for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Interior Minister Priti Patel will make the final decision on extradition. If Patel decides to extradite the journalist, lawyers will have until May 18 to appeal.

In the United States, Assange is accused of disclosing classified information in order to violate espionage laws and publish State Department materials. He faces 175 years in prison for this.

WikiLeaks representatives had already stated that the London court had signed Assange’s death sentence by issuing an arrest warrant. On the eve of the trial, Reporters Without Borders called for the release of the WikiLeaks founder. While the supporters of the journalist gathered in front of the courthouse in London, Assange’s wife Stella Morris also came to the meeting. They got married in March of this year in Belmarsh prison, where Assange is currently located. The couple has two children.

In December last year, the Court of Appeals for England and Wales decided to extradite Assange to Washington after considering the appeal of the US representatives. After that, Assange’s lawyers were about to appeal, and the case was returned to the lower Westminster Court, which had previously refused to extradite Assange, citing suicidal tendencies and danger to life. However, they have now also decided to return them. In March this year, the UK Supreme Court also denied WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s right to appeal the extradition order to the US.

Julian Assange

Julian Assange has been subjected to various persecutions for his journalistic activities for more than 10 years. Assange has been hiding at the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012. He was arrested and imprisoned in 2019 after Ecuadorian authorities rejected Assange’s request for asylum in their embassy. At the same time, the US Department of Justice accused Assange and extradition proceedings began.

WikiLeaks informants included military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning (later Bradley Manning) and CIA officer Edward Snowden. Assange’s materials on the course of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq were most resonant. Some of the documents he made public were about the executions of civilians by the US military.