WikiLeaks founder Assange launches latest UK court battle to avoid extradition to US on espionage charges

Julian AssangeOn Tuesday, lawyers in the UK will launch the latest legal action to stop the WikiLeaks founder being extradited to the US on espionage charges.

The 52-year-old has fought extradition for more than a decade, including seven years in self-exile at the Ecuadorian embassy in London and the last five years in a maximum security prison.

Assange's lawyers will ask two High Court judges to hold a new appeal hearing in what would be his last legal roll of the dice in Britain. If the judges rule against Assange, he can ask European Court of Human Rights to block his extradition – although supporters worry he could be put on a plane to the US before that happens.

Justices Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson could deliver a verdict at the end of a two-day hearing on Wednesday, but they are likely to take several weeks to consider their decision.

“These hearings mark the beginning of the end of the extradition case, as any grounds rejected by these judges cannot be appealed further in the UK, bringing Assange closer to extradition,” press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said.

Assange's supporters plan to demonstrate outside the neo-Gothic courthouse on both days and march to Prime Minister Risha Sunak's Downing Street office at the end of the hearing.

Assange, an Australian citizen, has been charged with 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer misuse in connection with the publication on his website of classified US documents. US prosecutors allege he helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that were later released by WikiLeaks, putting lives at risk.

To his supporters, Assange is a whistle-blower who exposed wrongdoing by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan and is entitled to First Amendment protections. They argue that the prosecution is politically motivated and that he will not receive a fair trial in the United States

His wife Stella Assange — a lawyer he married in prison in 2022 — says his health has deteriorated during his years in prison.

“His health deteriorated, mentally and physically. Every day that he is in prison, his life is in danger and if he is released, he will die,” she told reporters last week.

Assange's legal troubles began in 2010, when he was arrested in London at the request Sweden, who wanted to question him about allegations of rape and sexual assault by two women. In 2012, Assange refused bail and holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy, ​​where he was out of reach of British and Swedish authorities but also effectively a prisoner of a small diplomatic mission.

Relations between Assange and his hosts eventually soured, and he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019. British police immediately arrested him for breaching his bail in 2012. Throughout the fight for extradition, he was in London's Belmarsh prison. Sweden stopped investigating sex crimes in November 2019 because too much time had passed.

Assange's lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted, although US authorities have said the sentence is likely to be much less.

A U.K. District Court judge rejected a U.S. extradition request in 2021 on the grounds that Assange is likely to commit suicide if he is held in harsh U.S. prisons. The higher courts overturned this decision after receiving assurances from the US regarding his treatment. The British government signed the extradition order in June 2022.

Meanwhile, the Australian parliament last week called for Assange to be allowed to return home.

“No matter where people stand, this cannot go on and on indefinitely,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.