Today, Friday, British Home Secretary Priti Patel signed a request from the United States to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, in return the site condemned the British move and announced that it would appeal the decision.

A spokesman for the Interior said that the minister signed the extradition order in the absence of any reasons preventing its issuance, noting that Assange has 14 days to appeal the decision.

In turn, WikiLeaks today denounced the signing of the extradition order to the United States, considering it a "dark day for press freedom and British democracy."

"The British Home Secretary has agreed to extradite WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange to the United States, although he may face a prison sentence of 175 years," the site wrote in a tweet on Twitter.

And last April, the British judiciary agreed to extradite Assange to Washington, which is pursuing him on charges of espionage and leaking large amounts of confidential documents from US military records.

On the other hand, Assange's supporters say that he is a hero who is being punished for exposing American wrongdoing in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

They described his trial as a politically motivated attack on the press and freedom of expression.

The United States had asked the British authorities to extradite Assange so that he could be tried on 17 counts of espionage, and one count of computer misuse.

US prosecutors said Assange illegally helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal classified diplomatic cables and military files later released by WikiLeaks, putting lives at risk.

Supporters and lawyers for Assange, 50, justify that he was working as a journalist and has the right to expose the mistakes of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan, noting that the case has "political motives."

A British District Court judge initially rejected the request to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to America on the grounds that Assange would likely kill himself if held in harsh prison conditions in the United States.

However, US authorities later gave assurances that the WikiLeaks founder would not face harsh treatment, which his lawyers said would put his physical and mental health at risk.

Last December, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision, saying that US promises were "sufficient to ensure Assange is treated humanely."

In March, the Supreme Court rejected Assange's attempt to appeal this ruling.