Julian Assange: WikiLeaks founder can appeal extradition to the United States

Had the court ruled in favor of the United States, Mr. Assange would have exhausted all legal avenues in the United Kingdom.

The United States is seeking his extradition after publishing thousands of secret documents, which the US Department of Justice described as “one of the largest breaches of confidential information in the history of the United States.”

The files indicate that the US military killed civilians in unreported incidents during the war in Afghanistan.

US authorities say Assange put people’s lives at risk by failing to redact the names of intelligence agents in the documents, but his lawyers have said the case is a politically motivated form of “state retaliation”.

“He has literally exposed war crimes,” Assange told BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Monday.

“This case is that country’s revenge against openness and accountability.”

The then Home Secretary, Priti Patel, signed the extradition order for Assange in 2022, but He returned to the High Court in February 2024 to ask for leave to appeal, external.

At a hearing in March, the US government was given additional time to provide assurances to the court that Mr Assange would not receive the death penalty in the US, in addition to two other reasons:

Last month, the judges confirmed that the United States had provided guarantees to the court.

Separately, last month, US Pres Joe Biden said he is considering a request from Australia to drop Assange’s trial And return it to its original country.