New rebound after years of legal tussle. The Westminster Magistrates Court in London formally authorized the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States on Wednesday. There, the founder of WikiLeaks and whistleblower is accused of espionage.
If the British justice has officially issued an extradition order, it is however up to the British Minister of the Interior Priti Patel to approve it. Defense lawyers can still appeal to the High Court.
Julian Assange faces 175 years in prison
Caught in a long legal saga, the 50-year-old Australian is wanted by the American courts who want to try him for the dissemination, from 2010, of more than 700,000 classified documents on American military and diplomatic activities, in particular in Iraq. and in Afghanistan.
Prosecuted in particular under legislation against espionage, Julian Assange faces 175 years in prison, in a case denounced by human rights organizations as a serious attack on the freedom of the press.
On March 14, he had seen one of his last hopes of avoiding his extradition disappear, with the refusal of the British Supreme Court to examine his appeal.