Julian Assange wins temporary reprieve in case against extradition to US
Julian Assange has been handed a reprieve in his fight against extradition to the US after two judgesruled that the WikiLeaks founder could take his case to an appeal hearing but only if the UK and US are unable to provide the court with suitable assurances.
The president of the king’s bench division, Victoria Sharp, and Mr Justice Johnson said Assange had reasonable prospects for success on three of the nine grounds argued, but adjourned the leave to appeal application to give the respondents the opportunity to provide reassurance on the relevant matters.
In a written judgment, handed down on Tuesday morning, Sharp said: “Before making a final decision on the application for leave to appeal, we will give the respondent an opportunity to give assurances.
“If assurances are not given then we will grant leave to appeal without a further hearing.
“If assurances are given then we will give the parties an opportunity to make further submissions before we make a final decision on the application for leave to appeal.”
She said the assurances would need to include “that the applicant (Assange) is permitted to rely on the first amendment, that the applicant is not prejudiced at trial, including sentence, by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same first amendment protections as a United States citizen, and that the death penalty is not imposed”.
If Assange had been denied permission to appeal he could have been extradited within days to face espionage charges in the US.
At a two-day hearing, his lawyers argued that the charges, which relate to the publication by Assange and WikiLeaks of thousands of classified and diplomatic documents linked to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, were politically motivated and that the extradition request was unlawful.
The respondents have been given until 16 April to file their assurances. If they do not do so, leave to appeal will be granted. If they do file assurances by that date the parties will be invited to file further written submissions on the issue of leave to appeal with another hearing provisionally listed for 20 May.