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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange pauses as he makes an announcement to media gathered exterior the Excessive Court docket in London in 2011.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange pauses as he makes an announcement to media gathered exterior the Excessive Court docket in London in 2011.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
LONDON (AP) — The British authorities has ordered the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to america to face spying costs. WikiLeaks mentioned it will enchantment.
House Secretary Priti Patel signed the extradition order on Friday, her division mentioned. It follows a British courtroom ruling in April that Assange may very well be despatched to the U.S. over WikiLeaks’ publication of an enormous trove of categorized paperwork greater than a decade in the past.
The House Workplace mentioned in an announcement that “the U.Okay courts haven’t discovered that it will be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of course of to extradite Mr. Assange.”
“Nor have they discovered that extradition can be incompatible together with his human rights, together with his proper to a good trial and to freedom of expression, and that while within the U.S. he will probably be handled appropriately, together with in relation to his well being.”
The choice is an enormous second in Assange’s years-long battle to keep away from going through trial within the U.S. — although not essentially the tip of the story. Assange has 14 days to enchantment.
The U.S. has requested British authorities to extradite Assange so he can stand trial on 17 costs of espionage and one cost of pc misuse. American prosecutors say Assange unlawfully helped U.S. Military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal categorized diplomatic cables and army information that WikiLeaks later revealed, placing lives in danger.
“At present shouldn’t be the tip of the battle. It’s only the start of a brand new authorized battle,” mentioned Assange’s spouse, Stella Assange. She mentioned the U.Okay. determination marked “a darkish day for press freedom and for British democracy.”
“Julian did nothing flawed,” she mentioned. “He has dedicated no crime and isn’t a felony. He’s a journalist and a writer, and he’s being punished for doing his job.”
A British choose authorised the extradition in April, leaving the ultimate determination to the federal government. The ruling got here after a authorized battle that went all the best way to the U.Okay. Supreme Court docket.
Journalism organizations and human rights teams have referred to as on Britain to refuse the extradition request.
Supporters and attorneys for Assange, 50, argue that he was appearing as a journalist and is entitled to First Modification protections of freedom of speech for publishing paperwork that uncovered U.S. army wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. They argue that his case is politically motivated.
Assange’s attorneys say he might resist 175 years in jail if he’s convicted within the U.S., although American authorities have mentioned any sentence is prone to be a lot decrease than that.
Assange has been held at Britain’s high-security Belmarsh Jail in London since 2019, when he was arrested for skipping bail throughout a separate authorized battle. Earlier than that, he spent seven years contained in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to keep away from extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Sweden dropped the intercourse crimes investigations in November 2019 as a result of a lot time had elapsed.