As the Wikileaks founder is brought “dangerously close” to being extradited to the US, Assange and his family will attempt a last-ditch effort with a renewed appeal to the UK High Court

By Peoples Dispatch

In a major setback to jailed WikiLeaks founder and journalist, Julian Assange, a UK High Court judge dismissed his appeal against his extradition to the US. In a 3-page decision handed down on Tuesday, June 6, Justice Jonathan Swift of the High Court of Justice in London rejected all eight grounds of appeal against the extradition order that was sanctioned by the UK Home Office around a year ago.

Despite the setback, Assange is expected to file a renewed application challenging Justice Swift’s decision. According to a statement released by lawyer and Assange’s wife Stella, the defense will be preparing a renewed application for appeal to be filed by Tuesday, June 13, challenging the decision before two different High Court judges in a public hearing. This appeal attempt is the last legal recourse for Assange who has been fighting against the US extradition attempt for over three years.

In her statement announcing the decision to appeal, Stella Assange said that they “remain optimistic that we will prevail and that Julian will not be extradited to the United States where he faces charges that could result in him spending the rest of his life in a maximum security prison for publishing true information that revealed war crimes committed by the U.S. government.”

Expressing the disappointment of the family and supporters, Assange’s father John Shipton said, “Julian’s family watch on, horrified, and all fair-minded people the world over watch with profound disquiet and alarm.” He added that his son’s grounds for appeal were “clear, firm and just.”

Years-long legal ordeal

The US extradition plea was initially rejected by a district court judge in London in January 2021 on grounds of Assange’s mental health and the risk of suicide and other bodily harm if he was extradited.

This decision was overturned by the High Court in London in December that year based on diplomatic assurances given by the US after the district court’s decision. In June 2022, the UK Home Office sanctioned the extradition based on the High Court’s decision.

Assange, who was arrested and dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in April 2019, has spent four years without a charge or conviction throughout this litigation period in a high-security prison in Belmarsh in the outskirts of London.

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