UK judge denies Assange’s bid against US extradition as family fights on to block move

A UK judge has rejected WikiLeaks founder’s latest appeal against his extradition to the US for unveiling secret American military and diplomatic documents that confirmed deliberate US war crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and other foreign nations.

Julian Assange’s lawyers, family members and friends expressed fears that he is “dangerously close” to being extradited to the US following a ruling by British Judge Jonathan Swift denying all eight grounds of the appeal filed on his behalf, but vowed to launch a final appeal to block his expulsion and ensuing life imprisonment.

Assange’s wife, Stella, declared that her husband will submit a new appeal to the British Supreme Court in the coming days after Swift issued a three-page ruling on Tuesday confirming the extradition order signed by then Home Secretary Priti Patel in June 2022.

“And we 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 US government,” she said as quoted in a Thursday report by the UK-based Guardian daily.

Australian lawmakers meet US envoy to seek release of Julian Assange

Australian lawmakers meet with the US ambassador to Canberra, pressing the envoy to seek the release of Julian Assange.

Assange's father also said that his son's reasons for further investigation are clear, solid and fair.

“Julian’s family watch on, horrified, and all fair-minded people the world over watch with profound disquiet and alarm,” he said.

Assange's appeal argues that Patel erred in his decision to uphold the extradition order because the request violated the US-UK extradition treaty, which states that extradition cannot be granted if the crime for which extradition is sought is a political offense. Assange's legal team has also emphasized that the US desire to try Assange is politically motivated.

Assange's legal team has also stated that American officials have consistently misrepresented the main facts of the case in UK courts.

Swift’s rejection of the appeal grounds leaves only one final step in the UK courts: the defense has five working days to submit an appeal of 20 pages to a panel of two judges, who will convene a public hearing, according to the daily.

There are no further appeal avenues at the domestic level, it added, further noting that Assange could still fight the extradition at the European court of human rights, which last December confirmed that an application from Assange had been received.

In 2010, Assange published a series of damning leaks provided by US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, including nearly 750,000 classified military and diplomatic documents related to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that exposed the US military's war crimes in these countries. 

Assange, 52, is an Australian citizen who remains in Belmarsh prison in London as he fights a US demand for his extradition to face multiple alleged “espionage” charges.

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