Westminster Magistrates' Court in London has ordered the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States.
This was announced on Wednesday, April 20, in the organization itself.
A British court has issued an extradition order for Julian Assange to the United States, where he faces 175 years in prison for publishing activities.
It is noted that the final decision should be taken by British Home Secretary Priti Patel.
At the same time, the journalist's defense has the opportunity to appeal to the High Court of London if the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs decides to extradite him to the American side.
BREAKING: A UK judge has ordered the extradition of Julian Assange to the US where he will face a 175 year sentence for publishing
The decision will now move to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel – the defense have until May 18 to make submissions https:// t.co/m1bX8STSr8pic.twitter.com/BqEZH0O49O
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 20, 2022
According to the British media, the court session was quite short and took only about seven minutes.
Assange himself participated in it via video link while in Belmarsh maximum security prison.
After the verdict was passed, WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson recalled that almost a year and a half ago, the same court noted that Assange's extradition to the United States could pose a threat to his life.
“16 months ago, this court ruled that the extradition of Assange could put his life in danger, and this would be tantamount to a death sentence.
This is exactly what happened today,” he told reporters.
Hrafnsson stressed that the fate of the founder of WikiLeaks is in the hands of Patel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
According to him, they have the power to end the persecution of Assange and stop the oppression of press freedom.
Rally in defense of Julian Assange outside the courthouse in London
AP
© Frank Augstein
"To certain death"
Journalists, politicians and public figures around the world have already reacted to the decision of the London Court.
“London extradites Assange to the States.
To certain death, ”RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan wrote on her Telegram channel.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the "shameful decision" of the British court to extradite Assange to the United States a farce.
“Those who persecute Assange inexorably sought to destroy him… They were not even so much interested in physical destruction, but in moral, psychological, how to break a person… This verdict is the final verdict on all democratic arguments in Washington and London about freedom of speech and the claim to moral superiority in modern world,” said the official representative of the department, Maria Zakharova, at a briefing.
Bundestag MP from the Left Party Sevim Dagdelen on Twitter noted that the continued detention of Assange is a crime for which the UK and US governments are responsible.
“If human rights and freedom of the press still have any value, the British government should refuse to extradite Julian Assange to the United States,” she said.
Die fortgesetzte Haft von #Assange ist ein Verbrechen für das die britische & US-Regierung verantwortlich sind.
Wenn #Menschenrechte & #Pressefreiheit noch etwas wert sein sollen, muss die 🇬🇧 Regierung die Auslieferung von Julian Assange an die #USA verweigern.
#FreeAssangeNOWpic.twitter.com/cCUXpEbsoU
— Sevim Dağdelen, MdB (@SevimDagdelen) April 20, 2022
The biased verdict on the journalist was also emphasized by the British Conservative politician, former Brexit Minister David Davies.
“No matter how you feel about Julian Assange, the extradition treaty between the UK and the US is still deeply asymmetric and skewed in favor of the United States,” he wrote on Twitter.
Whatever you may think of Julian Assange, the UK's extradition treaty with the US is still fundamentally asymmetric and unbalanced in favor of the United States.
https://t.co/sUhCVC2HxS
— David Davis (@DavidDavisMP) April 20, 2022
In turn, former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was at the courthouse in the support group for Assange, said that the journalist deserves gratitude, as he told the world about the horrors of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Australian politician, Tasmanian senator Peter Wish-Wilson on Twitter pointed out the political motives for the persecution of his compatriot.
“The espionage law (which applies to Assange. -
RT
) was not intended to be used against publishers.
We must support freedom of the press and hold those in power to account.
The prosecution of Julian Assange has always been politically motivated,” he said.
The Espionage Act wasn't intended to be used against publishers.
We must support press freedoms & those who hold the powerful to account.
Julian Assange's prosecution has always been political.
It needs a political response from our govt to get justice for him #FreeAssange
— Peter Whish-Wilson (@SenatorSurfer) April 20, 2022
Now, according to Wish-Wilson, the Australian government must respond to what is happening in order to achieve justice for the journalist.
Meanwhile, the international human rights organization Amnesty International has warned that if the head of the UK Home Office still approves the extradition of the founder of WikiLeaks to the United States, this will set a dangerous precedent for publishers and journalists around the world.
Assange's extradition to the United States would be devastating to both freedom of the press and the public, "who has a right to know what their governments are doing on their behalf," said Agnès Callamard, secretary general of the organization.
Not subject to appeal
The Westminster Magistrates Court issued the current decision after the British Supreme Court on March 14 denied Julian Assange the right to appeal a lower court decision to extradite him to the United States.
The basis for this, in the opinion of the panel of judges, was the fact that “there is no controversial legal moment in the petition filed.”
At the same time, in early January 2021, the Westminster Court refused to extradite the journalist to the United States due to his state of health.
The defense expressed concern that Assange might commit suicide due to a depressed psychological state, and the American authorities could not provide guarantees for his safety.
The US Department of Justice later sent a package of assurances to the High Court, which was supposed to clarify earlier concerns about the treatment of the defendant.
Thus, the American side assured that the administration of President Joe Biden would not insist on keeping Assange in a maximum security prison (ADX) and, if found guilty, would allow him to serve his term in his homeland in Australia.
Julian Assange became famous thanks to the creation of the WikiLeaks portal in 2006, which published various secret documents.
He attracted the attention of Washington by posting in 2010 classified Pentagon materials on the actions of the US military in the Middle East.
They were given to him by US Army analyst Chelsea Manning, formerly known as Bradley Manning.
In total, Assange received from Manning about 400,000 documents on Iraq, 90,000 on Afghanistan, 250,000 State Department telegrams, and about 800 analytical notes on prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay military base.
US authorities launched an investigation against Assange for violating the 1917 Espionage Act.
At that moment, the journalist was in Sweden, waiting for a work permit, but was forced to leave it because of allegations of sexual harassment against him.
In December 2010, Assange moved to the UK, where he was detained at the request of Sweden and then released on bail.
In February 2011, the court ruled to extradite the journalist to the Swedish authorities, and in June 2012 Assange's lawyers' appeal against this decision was rejected.
In this regard, the journalist decided to seek political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy due to fears of extradition to the Swedish authorities.
Julian Assange speaking from the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London
AP
© Matt Dunham
He spent seven years on the territory of the diplomatic mission, until the then President of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, revoked his asylum permit in April 2019, allegedly for repeated violations of international conventions.
This allowed British police to enter the embassy grounds and arrest a journalist for failing to appear in court in 2012.
In May 2019, a London court sentenced Assange to 50 weeks in prison for violating bail conditions.
Since then, he has been in Belmarsh Prison.
For the benefit of the USA
Experts interviewed by RT agree that the decision of the Westminster Magistrates' Court to extradite Julian Assange to the United States fits into the outline of relations between London and Washington.
“If the UK court allowed the extradition, the next logical step, which is formal, is the confirmation and actually following the British court’s decision by the head of the UK Home Office,” explained lawyer, specialist in civil and international law Maria Yarmush.
In her opinion, the UK will do everything at the request of the United States, despite the laws in force on its territory, which are designed to protect human rights.
The close cooperation between the two countries was also noted by Pavel Feldman, Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia.
In an interview with RT, he noted that the court's decision did not come as a surprise, since the UK "could not refuse its American partners the pleasure of settling scores with Assange, who inflicted enormous damage on the United States."
“The last decision that remains with the Minister is already of a purely technical nature, since the judiciary in such cases has more authority and broader powers, so the last thing left is to sign, agree and activate the extradition mechanism,” — the analyst said.
Now in the United States, Assange is facing an extremely harsh trial, which will be demonstrative in nature, Feldman added.
“Because, from the point of view of the US authorities, Assange is an enemy of the state, a man who turned inside out the darkest secrets of the American military and politicians.
In terms of importance, he is like Snowden to them.
But they will no longer be able to reach Snowden, but with Assange, if he is in their hands, they will have the opportunity to publicly pay off, ”the expert explained.
In turn, political scientist Alexander Asafov, in a commentary to RT, noted what incredible efforts the United States had to make to achieve the decision they needed.
“Assange has offended the American justice system.
He stayed at the Ecuadorian embassy, and they almost had to change the regime in Ecuador in order to smoke him out of the embassy.
Enormous efforts have been made.
This is a matter of revenge of a huge state on a single caring person, ”said the analyst.
He also expressed the opinion that it was no coincidence that the decision on extradition was made right now.
“The question was not so much in the decision made, but in the choice of the moment: when this story will pass as quietly as possible against the background of other news.
And now this moment is the most appropriate, since all attention is focused on the Russian special operation, disagreements with China, and the Turkish operation against the Kurds.
So it seemed to the United States that right now the extradition of Assange would not have much resonance.
However, this is not so,” Asafov emphasized.
Pavel Feldman also pointed out the duality of the standards practiced by the United States.
Thus, the States denounce the authorities of other countries for allegedly persecuting their opponents for political reasons.
At the same time, Washington treats similar “opponents” that affect American national interests as harshly as possible, declaring them enemies and demanding punishment for them.
“This double morality is the corporate style of American foreign policy, and it is unlikely that the United States will worry that someone will catch them in contradictions.
And it is very important that for quite a long time Assange remained out of the reach of the American judicial and political system, and thus there was a feeling that she could not reach him, which inspired many anti-US fighters to expose them.
And this does not in any way correspond to the interests of Washington, ”Feldman concluded.