London — A U.K. court has ruled that Julian Assange will not be immediately extradited to face charges in the United States, giving the U.S. government three weeks to "offer assurances" that the American justice system will abide by several specific tenets in its handling of the WikiLeaks founder's case.
The British court said Assange "has a real prospect of success on 3 of the 9 grounds of appeal" he has argued. Specifically, the court demanded that U.S. justice officials confirm he will be "permitted to rely on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (which protects free speech), that he is not prejudiced at trial (including sentence) by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen and that the death penalty is not imposed."
The court said that if those U.S. government assurances are not given within the three week timeframe, Assange will be granted leave appeal in the U.K. If the assurances are given, there will be another U.K. court hearing on May 20 to make a final decision on granting Assange leave to appeal.
Following the court's judgment on Tuesday, Mr. Assange's immediate extradition has been halted.
This marks the final appeal option within the U.K. legal system for Assange.
Should the U.K. appeals process be completed, Assange can then seek an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights to review his case. The European Court of Human Rights could potentially prevent his extradition while deliberating on the matter, offering Assange a final opportunity to avoid being sent to the U.S.
Having spent nearly five years incarcerated in the U.K., Assange had previously sought refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to evade U.K. authorities.
If extradited to the U.S., Assange could face up to 175 years in prison for his role in publishing classified information regarding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq through the WikiLeaks platform.
What are the U.S. charges against Assange?
Assange is accused of collaborating to obtain and disclose sensitive U.S. national defense information, particularly through the publication of numerous leaked documents related to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange Indicted on 18 Charges in 2019
Back in 2019, a federal grand jury in Virginia brought forth charges against Assange on 18 counts related to the release of classified documents. Among these charges are 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer intrusion. If convicted of the espionage charges, Assange could potentially face a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count, and an additional five years for the computer intrusion charge, as per the Department of Justice.
The U.S. Department of Justice stated that Assange played a role in Chelsea Manning's actions, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst, in the unauthorized acquisition and disclosure of classified documents pertaining to national defense.
Assange maintains his innocence, with his legal representative expressing concerns about his safety should he be extradited to the United States.
