U.S. TRIES AGAIN TO EXTRADITE WIKILEAKS FOUNDER JULIAN ASSANGE FROM BRITAIN

Thu 12 August 2021:

A London judge broadened the scope of a US appeal against a block on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition from the United Kingdom on Wednesday, and the case will be heard in late October.

In January, a judge ruled that Assange should not be extradited to the United States to face criminal accusations, including breaking a spying law, since he would be at risk of suicide due to his mental health issues.

BIDEN ADMIN. CONTINUES TO SEEK EXTRADITION OF WIKILEAKS FOUNDER JULIAN ASSANGE

Assange faces 18 criminal charges in the United States of breaking an espionage law and conspiring to hack government computers.

WikiLeaks published a U.S. military video in 2010 showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff. It then released thousands of secret classified files and diplomatic cables.

Soon after, Sweden requested Assange’s extradition from the United Kingdom, citing charges of sex crimes. He went to the Ecuadorean embassy in London after losing the case in 2012, where he spent seven years.

He was jailed for breaching British bail restrictions when he was ultimately dragged out in April 2019, despite the fact that the Swedish case against him had been withdrawn.

The US had been granted permission to appeal the January judgement on three grounds, but on Wednesday it requested that the scope of the appeal be widened to include a re-evaluation of the expert evidence used to estimate Assange’s risk of suicide.

JULIAN ASSANGE PLANNING TO MARRY HIS PARTNER MORIS IN JAIL

Judge Timothy Holroyde said that it was unusual for an appelate court to reconsider evidence from an expert witness when it has been accepted by a lower court.

But he said it was arguable that the appeal court might make a different assessment, given that a key expert had omitted to disclose what he knew about Assange’s relationship with his partner Stella Moris.

“It is my view arguable that the… DJ (district judge) erred,” he said.

Both sides’ lawyers agreed that the full appeal hearing should take place on October 27 and 28.

———————————————————————————————————————-

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent