Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Friday appealed the British government’s decision to extradite him to the United States, the High Court in London heard.
The 50-year-old Australian is being prosecuted in the United States where he faces 175 years in prison for a massive leak of confidential documents. After a long legal standoff with twists and turns, British Interior Minister Priti Patel signed an extradition decree on June 17.
Mr Assange, who has been held for three years in the high-security Belmarsh prison near London, had until Friday to appeal.
British justice has confirmed that a “notification from Julian Assange to appeal the Home Office’s decision to extradite him has been received”.
On Friday, ahead of Julian Assange’s 51st birthday on Sunday, a few dozen of his supporters – including his wife Stella Assange whom he married in March – gathered outside the Home Office to protest the extradition decision.
They then boarded a ‘vintage’ London bus and drove around the center of the British capital shouting ‘Free Julian Assange now’.
“He is in jail for telling the truth. He’s innocent so why is he in jail? “, told AFP Gloria Wildman, a 79-year-old retiree accustomed to rallies in support of the Australian.
“If Julian Assange is not free, neither are we, no one is free,” she added.
If leave to appeal is granted, the hearing may not take place until early 2023, Kate Goold, a partner at the law firm Bindmans and specializing in cases, told the British press agency PA in mid-June. of extradition.
According to her, Mr. Assange could also seize the European Court of Human Rights, a process likely to take several years.