On Monday, the High Court in London ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal to the UK’s Supreme Court against extradition to the United States, where he faces espionage charges over the publication of thousands of leaked military and diplomatic documents more than a decade ago. Assange lawyers have 14 days to submit their application to the Supreme Court, which will decide whether to hear the case.
In December, a British appellate court opened the door to his extradition by overturning a lower court ruling that deemed his mental health too fragile to withstand the US criminal justice system. The lower court had denied extradition on health grounds, stating that harsh US prison conditions could lead to a deterioration of Assange’s mental health and potentially to suicide attempts. The US successfully appealed after making some assurances about how it would treat the 50-year-old in custody.
London-based journalist Willem Marx told Morning Edition in December, “What’s changed now is that following some pretty unprecedented assurances from US authorities about the way he will be held in detention once he arrives in the US – if he arrives in the US – the High Court judges here in London have ruled that because of those assurances, they no longer have the concerns of that lower court from earlier this year. And they therefore see no reason why they should not allow the US to extradite him” US authorities told British judges that Assange – who is facing a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison – would be eligible to serve any time he receives in his native Australia. They also promised he would not be held at the notoriously strict supermax penitentiary in Florence, Colo., or in solitary confinement.
