British Judge: WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange's Case Cannot Be Extradited To The US

Julian Assange (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - A British judge ruled that the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States (US) to face charges of espionage and computer hacking of the country's government. The verdict was delivered in the central criminal court, England by District Judge, Vanessa Baraitser.

The US is likely to appeal the verdict that has been being tried at Old Bailey since last year, according to The Guardian. During the hearing, Assange's supporters also campaigned that the US accusations against him were a threat to press freedom.

Assange case

The case that befell the 49-year-old man is related to the publication of WikiLeaks about leaking hundreds of thousands of documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition, he was also accused of leaking other diplomatic information that occurred in 2010 and 2011.

Assange, a journalist from Australia and the founder of WikiLeaks, was then accused of assisting US Defense Analyst Chelsea Manning in hacking and publishing information that endangered certain parties. This, according to prosecutors, violates the US Espionage Act.

But Assange denies conspiring with Manning to crack the password encrypted on US computers. He also argued that there was no evidence that the information on someone whose security was threatened had been compromised.

If his case is extradited and found guilty of espionage, Assange could be jailed for 30 to 40 years, his lawyer was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera. Even though the prosecutor said he would face no more than 63 months in prison.

Political demands

In self-defense of the accusation, Assange's lawyer was of the opinion that the demand was full of politics. Assange was pursued because WikiLeaks published a US government document that revealed evidence that Uncle Sam's country was involved in war crimes and violated human rights.

Over the weekend, Assange's partners said the decision to extradite one of WikiLeaks' co-founders to the US would be a "political and legal disaster for Britain". While his wife, Stella Moris, said the decision to allow extradition would be "an unthinkable parody."

The legal team representing the US has denied that claim. They say that US federal prosecutors are prohibited from considering political opinion in making their decisions.

As is known, the trial of the Assange case began in February 2020 and ended in October. Julian Assange is currently being held at the maximum-security Belmarsh prison in southeast London. There is concern if his physical and mental health is impaired.

Julia Hall, an expert on counterterrorism, criminal justice and human rights at Amnesty International, said there should be no speculation. “So many things have changed during the trial until now. We are ready for both results, "he said.

The man who will not escape the history of the founding of WikiLeaks was arrested in April 2019 from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he was granted asylum in 2012, to avoid arrest. He was granted asylum after Interpol issued an arrest warrant for him on charges of rape in Sweden, an investigation that was later dropped.