Assange extradition on hold until US gives assurances

Court seeks protection from death penalty

LONDON — The High Court in London ruled Tuesday that Julian Assange, the embattled WikiLeaks founder, cannot be immediately extradited to the United States, saying US authorities must offer assurances about his treatment first, including over his First Amendment rights and protection from the death penalty.

The decision had been highly anticipated as the moment the court would decide if Assange had exhausted his challenges within British courts. Instead, in a nuanced ruling, two judges determined that clarity on his fate would again be on hold.

The two High Court judges said that the court “will grant leave to appeal” on narrow grounds “unless a satisfactory assurance is provided by the government of the United States of America.”

The court has given the United States three weeks “to give satisfactory assurances” that Assange “is permitted to rely on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (which protects free speech), that he 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 those assurances are not given by April 16, then Assange will be granted a full appeal hearing. If the United States does provide the requested assurances, there will be a further hearing on May 20 to decide if they “are satisfactory, and to make a final decision on leave to appeal.”

While the United States has already provided some assurances over the treatment of Assange if he is extradited, the High Court judges asked for additional guarantees.

The United States has sought the extradition of Assange, 52, since 2019, but he has fought his removal through the courts while detained in a highsecurity prison in southeast London.

The United States has accused him of violating the Espionage Act with WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of tens of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents leaked by Chelsea Manning, an Army intelligence analyst.

Speaking outside the London court Tuesday, Stella Assange, Assange’s wife, urged the US government to drop the charges against her husband.

“The Biden administration should not offer assurances. They should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought,” she told reporters gathered outside the court. “Julian should never have been in prison for a single day. This is a shame on every democracy. Julian is a political prisoner.”

As Assange’s case has drawn out over the years, it has become highly charged politically, raising First Amendment issues and alarming advocates of media freedom. The United States, Britain, where his extradition case is being heard, and Australia — where Assange is a citizen — are all involved, and in recent months there had been calls for some political resolution to see the charges reduced or dismissed.

Assange moved to Britain in late 2010 from Sweden. Swedish police issued an international arrest warrant for him later that year over sexual assault accusations.

In June 2012, he was granted political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London — where he stayed for the next seven years.

Sweden dropped its case against Assange. He was thrown out of the embassy in 2019, and shortly after, the United States announced an indictment against him, charging him with 18 counts of violating the Espionage Act.