(London) It’s a “dark day” for WikiLeaks, but not the end of the judicial soap opera: the British government confirmed on Friday that it had signed the decree for the extradition to the United States of the organization’s founder, Julian Assange, who will call.
Posted at 6:23 a.m.
The 50-year-old Australian is being prosecuted in the United States for a massive leak of confidential documents.
After a long legal standoff with twists and turns, British justice had formally given the green light on April 20 to his surrender to American justice, but it was up to British Interior Minister Priti Patel to sign an extradition decree. , which she did on Friday.
“Under the Extradition Act 2003, the Minister of State must sign an extradition order if there are no grounds for barring the order,” a ministry spokesperson said. inside.
“In this case, the UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unfair or an abuse of process to extradite Mr. Assange,” the spokesperson stressed, referring to arguments by Julian Assange’s supporters who demand his release and denounce an attack on the freedom to inform.
“Nor have they concluded that extradition would be inconsistent with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and freedom of expression, and that while he is in the United States he will be treated as appropriate manner, including with regard to his health,” the spokesperson added, justifying the signing of the extradition decree.
“Dark Day”
WikiLeaks denounced “a dark day for freedom of the press” in a press release and announced that Julian Assange would appeal. He can do it within 14 days.
He is wanted by the American justice system, which wants to try him for the dissemination, from 2010, of more than 700,000 classified documents on American military and diplomatic activities, in particular in Iraq and Afghanistan. He faces 175 years in prison.
Mr Assange has been detained for three years at the maximum security prison in Belmarsh, near London, where he married his fiancée Stella Moris in March.
They have two baby boys, conceived when Julian Assange was living at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The founder of WikiLeaks spent seven years in this embassy where he had taken refuge in 2012, while he was on bail.
He then feared extradition to the United States, or Sweden where he was the subject of rape proceedings since abandoned.
He was finally arrested by British police in April 2019 and imprisoned.
His wife, a South African lawyer in her thirties, had pleaded with Home Secretary Priti Patel to prevent his extradition, asking her to put an end to what she considers a “political affair”.
“Anyone in this country who cares about freedom of expression should be deeply ashamed that the Home Secretary approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, the country that plotted his assassination,” he said. she said in a statement Friday.
“Julian did nothing wrong. He has committed no crime and is not a criminal. He is a journalist and editor, and he is being punished for doing his job,” she continued.
Stella Assange added that “this is not the end of the fight. This is just the start of a new legal battle”.