Assange wins temporary reprieve from extradition to US

LONDON: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States from Britain was put on hold on Tuesday after London’s High Court said the United States must provide assurances he would not face the death penalty.

US prosecutors are seeking to put Assange, 52, on trial on 18 counts, all bar one under the Espionage Act, over WikiLeaks’ release of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables.

After Britain gave the go-ahead for his extradition last year, Assange’s lawyers in February launched a final attempt in the English courts to challenge that decision.

In their written ruling, which Assange’s wife Stella described as “utterly bizarre”, two senior judges provisionally gave him permission to launch a full appeal against extradition on three grounds, but only if the US failed to provide “satisfactory assurances” to the issues raised.

These were that Australian-born Assange arguably would not be entitled to rely on the First Amendment right to free speech as a non-US national and, while none of the existing charges carried the death penalty, he could later face a capital offence such as treason, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him.

Assange’s lawyers had highlighted a comment by former US president Donald Trump who said in 2010, when discussing WikiLeaks, that “I think there should be like a death penalty or something”, the ruling said.

The judges invited the US authorities to provide assurances on these matters, saying if they were not forthcoming by April 16, then Assange would be granted permission to appeal.