‘Fugitives could be rewarded’, says QC
BLOCKING Julian Assange’s removal to the US due to his mental health risks “rewarding fugitives for their flight” and giving a “trump card” to people looking to avoid extradition, the High Court has heard.
Assange, 50, is wanted in America on allegations of a conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
After a multi-week extradition hearing, then-District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled in January that Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and “oppressive” risk of suicide.
She found that “the procedures described by the US will not prevent Assange from finding a way to commit suicide”.
Yesterday, the US authorities began their attempt to overturn the district
judge’s decision at the High Court.
After initially indicating he would not attend yesterday’s hearing, Assange observed via videolink from Belmarsh Prison in south-east London, appearing to wear a black face covering and a burgundy tie.
James Lewis QC, for the US, told the court that the district judge based her decision on Assange’s “intellectual ability to circumvent suicide preventative measures”, which risked becoming a “trump card” for anyone who wanted to oppose their extradition regardless of any resources the
other state might have.
He continued: “The district judge’s approach carries with it the risk of rewarding fugitives for their flight, and of creating an anomaly between the approach of the courts in domestic criminal proceedings and in extradition.
“In the domestic context, it would never be said that an individual accused of crimes of the severity of Mr Assange’s could not be put on trial, despite being fit to be tried, because of his determination to commit suicide.”