The Court of Appeal in England and Wales has granted the appeal of the US Ministry of Justice against the decision to ban the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
According to the decision of the British court, Assange’s case will be returned to the first instance court – Westminster Magistrates Court. The agency had earlier ruled that the 50-year-old Australian could not be extradited to the United States because of the high risk of his suicide.
“[The Court of Appeal] rejected various criticisms by Assange’s representatives of the assurances given by the US Attorney’s Office and concluded that they were sufficient to allay the concerns [about Assange’s suicide risk] that formed the basis of the district judge’s decision”, – the London court said in its decision.
It is noted that it was for this reason that the court decided to grant the appeal and decided to refer the case back to the magistrates’ court for further consideration of the feasibility of Assange’s extradition to the United States.
Julian Assange is known for publishing materials that expose the White House’s illegal actions during military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In particular, the creator of WikiLeaks has published data on the killing of civilians by the US military as well as conditions in the US Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.
Washington is charging the journalist with 17 counts of violating the Espionage and Secrecy Act. If extradited, he faces up to 175 years in prison.