Judge sends Assange extradition decision to UK government

A British judge has actually formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to face spying chargesBy JILL LAWLESS Associated PressApril 20, 2022, 10:39 AM – 3 min readShare to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleLONDON– A British judge on Wednesday officially approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to deal with spying charges. The case will now go to Britains interior minister for a decision, though the WikiLeaks creator still has legal avenues of appeal.The order, which brings and end to the years-long extradition battle closer, comes after the U.K. Supreme Court last month refused Assange approval to appeal versus a lower courts judgment that he could be extradited.District Judge Paul Goldspring released the order in a brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court, as Assange seen by video link from Belmarsh Prison and his advocates rallied outside the court house, demanding he be freed.Home Secretary Priti Patel will now decide whether to approve the extradition.The move doesnt exhaust the legal choices for Assange, who has actually sought for several years to prevent a trial in the U.S. on charges related to WikiLeaks publication of a substantial trove of classified files more than a decade ago.His legal representatives have four weeks to make submissions to Patel, and can likewise seek to appeal to the High Court.Assange attorney Mark Summers informed the court that the legal team had “major submissions” to make.The U.S. has asked British authorities to extradite Assange so he can stand trial on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse. American district attorneys say Assange unlawfully helped U.S. Army intelligence expert Chelsea Manning steal categorized diplomatic cable televisions and military files that WikiLeaks later on released, putting lives at risk.Supporters and attorneys for Assange, 50, argue that he was functioning as a journalist and is entitled to First Amendment securities of liberty of speech for publishing documents that exposed U.S. military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. They argue that his case is politically motivated.A British district court judge had at first turned down a U.S. extradition demand on the premises that Assange was likely to eliminate himself if held under extreme U.S. jail conditions. U.S. authorities later offered assurances that the WikiLeaks founder would not deal with the serious treatment that his lawyers said would put his psychological and physical health at risk.In December, the High Court overturned the lower courts choice, stating that the U.S. guarantees sufficed to guarantee that Assange would be dealt with humanely. The Supreme Court in March rejected Assanges attempt to challenge that ruling.Assanges legal representatives say he could face up to 175 years in jail if he is convicted in the U.S., though American authorities have stated the sentence was likely to be much lower than that.Assange has actually been held at Britains high-security Belmarsh Prison in London since 2019, when he was jailed for skipping bail during a different legal battle. Before that, he invested 7 years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face accusations of rape and sexual assault.Sweden dropped the sex criminal activities examinations in November 2019 due to the fact that so much time had elapsed.Last month, Assange and his partner Stella Moris married in a prison event.