This will happen after the presidential elections in the USA, the company said.
The court will not rule on the extradition to the USA of the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, before 2021. This was announced by WikiLeaks on Friday with reference to a statement by Judge Vanessa Barreitzer, who is presiding over the case at the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London.
“The judge has just stated that the decision will not be made before 2021 – [it will be] after the upcoming US elections”, – the organisation said on Twitter.
The United States Department of Justice has filed 18 criminal charges against the Australian. In particular, he is charged with crimes related to the largest case of disclosure of classified information in U.S. history. Assanjo faces up to 175 years in prison on all of these charges. The hearing, which began on 7 September, was originally scheduled for four weeks.
Judge Baritzer is not tasked with reaching a verdict on the charges against Assange, but will have to decide whether Washington’s request complies with the British-American Extradition Agreement in force since 2007.
If the request by the American authorities is granted, the head of the British Home Office, Pritie Patel, will have to authorize the extradition of Assange. But even in this case, the Australian lawyers will still have the opportunity to challenge the decision in the High Court in London and then in the Supreme Court or the European Court of Human Rights, which could take years. Accordingly, an appeal against the court decision can also be made by the prosecution if extradition is refused.
The next general election in the USA will take place on 3 November. It will elect the President and Vice-President, all 435 members of the House of Representatives and a third of the United States Senate, and governors of 13 states and territories.