US lawyers tell British court WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange should be extradited
- The Australian is wanted in the US on 18 criminal charges, including breaking a spying law
- Assange’s group published thousands of secret classified files and diplomatic cables in 2010
The 50-year-old Australian is wanted in the US on 18 criminal charges, including breaking a spying law, after his group published thousands of secret classified files and diplomatic cables in 2010.
Lawyer James Lewis, acting for the US government, told the Court of Appeal in London that a judge in a lower court had been wrong to rule that Assange could not be extradited because of a high risk he would commit suicide in a US prison.
A document outlining Lewis’s arguments, presented to the court and released to media, said the US had provided Britain with “a package of assurances” addressing the judge’s concerns.
“The United States has also provided an assurance that the United States will consent to Mr Assange being transferred to Australia to serve any custodial sentence imposed on him,” the document said.
Supporters of Assange gathered outside the court building from early on Wednesday, chanting “free Julian Assange”, before his father and Stella Moris, his partner and mother of his two children, arrived.
Assange, who denies any wrongdoing, is being held at Belmarsh Prison. He had been expected to appear via video link but the court was told he did not feel well enough to do so.
