Today it will be decided whether Wikileaks founder Assange can take legal action against his extradition to the USA. It is his last chance to appeal – otherwise he faces a long process with enormous strain.
In 2010, Julian Assange’s Wikileaks website published a shocking video. The crew of a US Army “Apache” attack helicopter can be seen firing on civilians. The men take cover behind a car. But the shots penetrate the vehicle. The incident took place in Baghdad in 2007. Twelve civilians died at that time. Among them were two employees of the Reuters news agency.
A person’s camera may have been mistaken for a weapon. The images suggested that US soldiers had committed war crimes. In the coming months, numerous documents about the war in Afghanistan and the Guantanamo prison camp were published.
Security company Assange listened
The US government opened an investigation. In addition, the Swedish authorities issued an arrest warrant against Julian Assange for alleged sexual offenses. Assange feared extradition to the USA and fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012. Ecuador granted him political asylum. There he spoke to media representatives and supporters from the balcony. The pictures went around the world. Wikileaks was in danger, as was freedom of expression and our functioning society, the Australian said at the time.
He was stuck in a cramped quarters in the embassy for seven years. From 2015 with an important relationship – with his now wife Stella Assange. The lawyer had previously been part of Julian Assange’s team. Two children were born together in 2017 and 2019. During this time, Julian Assange was apparently wiretapped by a Spanish security company deployed at the embassy. Among other things, samples were said to have been taken from the children’s diapers to determine whether Assange was really the father.
Since 2019 in Maximum security prison
Stella Assange even accuses former CIA director Mike Pompeo of having plans drawn up to kill Assange. That should have been in 2017. The website Yahoo News reported on this in 2021 and referred to around 30 interlocutors and sources, some of whom were named.
In 2017, the investigation into the alleged sexual offenses in Sweden was closed due to a lack of evidence. In 2019, the new Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno revoked Julian Assange’s citizenship. The British police then arrested Assange at the embassy. He was sent to the maximum security prison in Belmarsh, serving a sentence for breaching bail conditions. But he had to stay in prison – without a sentence. The legal dispute over his extradition to the USA followed.
Uncertain prospects for Assange
During his long imprisonment, Assange suffered massive losses. “His physical and mental health has deteriorated enormously,” said Stella Assange. If the judges decide today that Assange’s lawyers are not allowed to appeal, his extradition to the USA could quickly happen. There he faces a trial and conviction for espionage.
He could be extradited to Australia quickly after a conviction because he has Australian citizenship. He could be released there. But the legal proceedings in the USA are likely to take a very long time and put Assange under enormous strain. The only remaining option for Assange’s lawyers would be to contact the International Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. What prospects this would have remains to be seen.
If the judges allow the appeal, a process will begin that could drag on for months again. The exit is then open. This appeal could then ultimately be rejected.
Christoph Prössl, ARD London, tagesschau, March 25, 2024 9:08 p.m