LONDON: The United States on Wednesday asked the UK High Court to overturn a judge’s decision that Julian Assange Promising not to be sent to the United States to face espionage charges, the WikiLeaks founder could serve any prison sentence he meets in his native Australia.
In January, a lower court judge denied a US request for extradition Assange On allegations of espionage over the publication of secret military documents by WikiLeaks a decade ago.
District Judge Vanessa Baratser Denies extradition on health grounds, saying Assange is likely to kill himself if he is held in harsh US prison conditions.
A US government lawyer, James Lewis, argued on Wednesday that the judge was wrong to conclude that Assange’s mental health was too fragile to withstand the US judicial system.
The lawyer said Assange “has no history of serious and permanent mental illness” and does not meet the threshold of being so ill that he cannot resist harming himself.
Lewis said US officials had promised that Assange would not be held before trial in a top-security “Supermax” prison or subjected to strict isolation conditions, and that if convicted he would be sent to his home in Australia. will be allowed to serve the sentence.
Lewis said the assurances are “binding on the United States.”
“Once assured of proper medical care, once it is clear that he will be deported back to Australia to serve any sentence, we can safely say that the District Judge has addressed the question concerned. Wouldn’t have decided the way he did,” he said. said.
Assange’s lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said in a written statement that Australia did not agree to take Assange if convicted. Even if Australia agrees, Fitzgerald said the US legal process could take a decade, “during which Mr. Assange will be detained in extreme isolation in a US prison.”
He accused US lawyers of seeking to “minimize the severity of Mr. Assange’s mental disorder and risk of suicide”.
Assange, lodged in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison, was expected to attend the two-day hearing by video link, but Fitzgerald said Assange was put on a high dose of the drug and “does not feel able to attend”. . Proceeding.”
Assange later appeared on video links several times during the day, sitting at a table in a prison room, wearing a black face mask.
Several dozen pro-Assange protesters held a loud rally outside London’s neo-gothic Royal Court of Justice throughout the day, calling the prosecution politically motivated and demanding its removal.
Protesters included Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who said that Assange’s case “belongs to our society, it concerns our freedom of expression, it concerns our individual human rights, and we have to see the government”.
The two judges hearing the appeals – one of England’s senior-most judge, Lord Chief Justice Ian Burnett – are not expected to deliver their verdict for several weeks. This likely won’t end the epic legal saga, however, as the losing side could seek to appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
US prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer abuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of leaked military and diplomatic documents.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison, although Lewis said “the longest sentence ever for this offense is 63 months.”
US prosecutors say Assange illegally helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal confidential diplomatic cables and military files, later published by WikiLeaks.
Assange’s lawyers argue that he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to the First Amendment of speech protection for publishing documents exposing US military wrongdoings in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In his January ruling, Bariter rejected the defense’s arguments that Assange faces a politically motivated US prosecution that would override free-speech protections, and said the US judicial system would give him a fair trial. Will give
WikiLeaks supporters say witnesses testify during extradition hearings that Assange was spied on at the embassy by a Spanish security firm at the behest of the CIA – and even talk of his kidnapping or murder. was done – undermines America’s claims that they will be treated. in fairness.
Assange, 50, has been in prison since being arrested in April 2019 for not seeking bail during a separate legal battle. Before that he spent seven years inside Ecuador’s London embassy, where he fled in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face charges of rape and sexual assault.
Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigation in November 2019 because so much time had passed. The judge blocking the extradition in January ordered that he must remain in custody during any US appeals, ruling that the Australian citizen “has an incentive to abscond” when freed.
Assange’s accomplices outside the court Stella Morris He said he was “very concerned for Julian’s health,” and called it “completely unimaginable that UK courts could agree to extradition”.
“I hope the courts put an end to this nightmare, that Julian is able to come home soon and that wise heads prevail,” she said.
In January, a lower court judge denied a US request for extradition Assange On allegations of espionage over the publication of secret military documents by WikiLeaks a decade ago.
District Judge Vanessa Baratser Denies extradition on health grounds, saying Assange is likely to kill himself if he is held in harsh US prison conditions.
A US government lawyer, James Lewis, argued on Wednesday that the judge was wrong to conclude that Assange’s mental health was too fragile to withstand the US judicial system.
The lawyer said Assange “has no history of serious and permanent mental illness” and does not meet the threshold of being so ill that he cannot resist harming himself.
Lewis said US officials had promised that Assange would not be held before trial in a top-security “Supermax” prison or subjected to strict isolation conditions, and that if convicted he would be sent to his home in Australia. will be allowed to serve the sentence.
Lewis said the assurances are “binding on the United States.”
“Once assured of proper medical care, once it is clear that he will be deported back to Australia to serve any sentence, we can safely say that the District Judge has addressed the question concerned. Wouldn’t have decided the way he did,” he said. said.
Assange’s lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said in a written statement that Australia did not agree to take Assange if convicted. Even if Australia agrees, Fitzgerald said the US legal process could take a decade, “during which Mr. Assange will be detained in extreme isolation in a US prison.”
He accused US lawyers of seeking to “minimize the severity of Mr. Assange’s mental disorder and risk of suicide”.
Assange, lodged in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison, was expected to attend the two-day hearing by video link, but Fitzgerald said Assange was put on a high dose of the drug and “does not feel able to attend”. . Proceeding.”
Assange later appeared on video links several times during the day, sitting at a table in a prison room, wearing a black face mask.
Several dozen pro-Assange protesters held a loud rally outside London’s neo-gothic Royal Court of Justice throughout the day, calling the prosecution politically motivated and demanding its removal.
Protesters included Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who said that Assange’s case “belongs to our society, it concerns our freedom of expression, it concerns our individual human rights, and we have to see the government”.
The two judges hearing the appeals – one of England’s senior-most judge, Lord Chief Justice Ian Burnett – are not expected to deliver their verdict for several weeks. This likely won’t end the epic legal saga, however, as the losing side could seek to appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
US prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer abuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of leaked military and diplomatic documents.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison, although Lewis said “the longest sentence ever for this offense is 63 months.”
US prosecutors say Assange illegally helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal confidential diplomatic cables and military files, later published by WikiLeaks.
Assange’s lawyers argue that he was acting as a journalist and is entitled to the First Amendment of speech protection for publishing documents exposing US military wrongdoings in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In his January ruling, Bariter rejected the defense’s arguments that Assange faces a politically motivated US prosecution that would override free-speech protections, and said the US judicial system would give him a fair trial. Will give
WikiLeaks supporters say witnesses testify during extradition hearings that Assange was spied on at the embassy by a Spanish security firm at the behest of the CIA – and even talk of his kidnapping or murder. was done – undermines America’s claims that they will be treated. in fairness.
Assange, 50, has been in prison since being arrested in April 2019 for not seeking bail during a separate legal battle. Before that he spent seven years inside Ecuador’s London embassy, where he fled in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden to face charges of rape and sexual assault.
Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigation in November 2019 because so much time had passed. The judge blocking the extradition in January ordered that he must remain in custody during any US appeals, ruling that the Australian citizen “has an incentive to abscond” when freed.
Assange’s accomplices outside the court Stella Morris He said he was “very concerned for Julian’s health,” and called it “completely unimaginable that UK courts could agree to extradition”.
“I hope the courts put an end to this nightmare, that Julian is able to come home soon and that wise heads prevail,” she said.
.