How fast, is up to the two judges who on Tuesday and Wednesday will consider whether the British Supreme Court will hear his appeal. The Wikileaks founder’s spouse, who is also a human rights lawyer, fears that it could be soon. – The judges can make their decision as early as Wednesday, and that is very disturbing. In a previous case, the British extradited a person within 24 hours of the ruling, says Stella Assange to news. Photo: news Photo: news Australian Julian Assange came to London in 2010 to publish piles of classified American documents. Then he hardly imagined that he would remain in the metropolis for almost 14 years. Involuntarily. For the past five years, he has been fighting extradition to the United States from solitary confinement in a cell in a high-risk prison in London. Here you can read what makes him now risk a 175-year prison sentence in the US: Facts about the process surrounding Julian Assange In 2010, Wikileaks published large amounts of classified material, including about the US’s warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan, partly in collaboration with newspapers such as the British The The Guardian and the American New York Times. In November 2010, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was wanted by the Swedish authorities, suspected of rape and sexual assault against two Swedish women. He was arrested in the UK in December of the same year, but released on bail and duty to report. In June 2012, the British Supreme Court confirmed that he could be extradited to Sweden. Assange feared that Sweden would extradite him to the United States and sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. On 11 April 2019, Ecuador withdrew its protection of Assange, and British police entered the embassy and arrested him. On the same day, the United States published an indictment for complicity in data breaches. On 1 May 2019, Assange was sentenced in a British court to 50 weeks in prison for breaching his bail conditions in 2012. On 23 May 2019, the US Department of Justice published a comprehensive indictment on 18 counts in which Assange is accused, among other things, of violating the US Espionage Act. On 19 November 2019, Swedish prosecutors dropped the rape case against Assange, who had always denied the accusations. On January 4, 2021, a lower court in the United Kingdom refused to extradite Julian Assange to the United States. The court feared that American sentencing conditions could lead to Assange committing suicide. The United States appealed the case. On December 10, 2021, the United States prevailed in a higher court, which approved extradition. The British judges had received assurances from the United States that they will take the suicide risk into account. June 17, 2022: The British government approved the extradition of Julian Assange. 20 and 21 February 2024: After previously unsuccessful attempts to get the British Supreme Court to hear the appeal of the extradition decision, Assange makes a final attempt. The British High Court will decide whether there are now grounds for the British Supreme Court to look into the case. When he made public the revelations about alleged US war crimes in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, he was criticized for putting soldiers’ lives at risk. – Now it is his life that is at stake, says his wife Stella Assange to news in London. Deteriorating health She visits her husband every week in prison. Often the two children are with them. – We are trying to protect the children. They don’t know what’s going on. We focus on being together as a family and enjoying it. It’s hard for us, but nothing against what Julian has to endure. – Julian’s life is at stake, says the WikiLeaks founder’s wife, Stella Assange to news. – Julian’s life is at stake, says the WikiLeaks founder’s wife, Stella Assange to news. She says that his health has deteriorated significantly during the almost five years in prison, both mentally and physically. That he seems much older than his 52 years, that he is weak, medicated and under extreme pressure. – It is totally inhumane. – But why should he not be held responsible for what he has done in the United States? – It is not possible to get justice in the United States. Julian is the victim of a political persecution from the country which he revealed was behind war crimes. In the US, Assange is charged with espionage on 18 counts. – This is an attack on press freedom worldwide. No journalist is safe, says human rights lawyer Stella Assange. – The century’s threat to freedom of expression. She receives support from the long-standing journalist and author Peter Oborne, who is highly critical of both the British and American authorities. He uses big words about Julian Assange. – Here is a man who has made more scoops about really significant things than all other journalists in the world combined, he says to news. Peter Oborne is a long-standing journalist and political commentator. He belongs to those who believe Julian Assange’s fight is a fight for freedom of expression. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / NRKPeter Oborne is a long-standing journalist and political commentator. He belongs to those who believe Julian Assange’s fight is a fight for freedom of expression. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / news Oborne thus has a different image of the Australian than the American prosecution. A different picture from those who see a possible abuser in Assange, even though Sweden eventually dropped the case of sexual abuse there. And not the same image as those who wonder if he is running Russia’s errands, including with the publication of Hillary Clinton’s emails during the US election campaign in 2016. Emails the US believed Russian hackers had obtained. – The case against Assange is the biggest threat to freedom of expression this century, Oborne believes. The British journalist believes his home country is letting itself down. – Britain has a wonderful tradition of allowing dissent and allowing troublemakers to flourish. Instead, Assange is thrown into prison and will most likely be extradited in a few days, as it looks now. Fear of torture A number of human rights organizations and press organizations share the concern, and support Assange’s fight against extradition. The UN’s special envoy for torture cases recently begged the British authorities to stop the extradition for fear that he will be subjected to torture. A seriously depressed Stella Assange fears that her husband will die if he is extradited to the United States. Photo: AFP A seriously depressed Stella Assange fears that her husband will die if he is extradited to the United States. Photo: AFP – If he is extradited to the United States, he will lose his life. He will never get a fair trial there, says his wife Stella Assange. The Australian Parliament voted by a large majority last week to ask the United States and Great Britain to end the prosecution of Australian Julian Assange. – Enough is enough, said the country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. He says he has taken up the case “at the highest level” in both the UK and the US before the court hearing this week, and asks that Assange be allowed to come home to Australia. The Australian Parliament wants Julian Assange to return to Australia. Photo: AFP The Australian Parliament wants Julian Assange to return to Australia. Photo: AFP – I hope it leads to a solution in time to save Julian’s life, comments Stella Assange. Hero or villain? The award-winning British journalist Peter Oborne is concerned about the state of freedom of the press if the Wikileaks founder is extradited to the United States. – Then it will be impossible for journalists to gain access to or use information from classified US documents, he believes. After seven years in asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London, Julian Assange was arrested by British police and imprisoned. Photo: Hannah Mckay / ReutersAfter seven years in asylum in Ecuador’s embassy in London, Julian Assange was arrested by British police and imprisoned . Photo: Hannah Mckay / Reuters – But Assange obtained the information through an illegal act. Doesn’t that matter? – We all have our methods to find the truth, and we have a responsibility to be ethical. But the way I see it, Assange has revealed untenable truths about the behavior of the US government. American soldier Chelsea Manning served seven years in an American prison for leaking the documents that Assange published on Wikileaks. High-risk prison Belmarsh in London. Julian Assange has been incarcerated here since 2019. Photo: BEN STANSALL / AfpHigh-risk prison Belmarsh in London. Julian Assange has been incarcerated here since 2019. Photo: BEN STANSALL / Afp On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, it will therefore be decided whether the extradition case will go before the British Supreme Court or not. Journalist Peter Oborne is not optimistic. – To be honest: We will never see him again. He’s going to disappear into a high-security cell, and it’s going to break him. And the fact that the British state has kept him in Belmarsh (the high-risk prison where he sits) for five years is a betrayal. He has revealed how the US killed civilians and tortured prisoners in Iraq. But he is also accused of having helped Trump to power, and of having put other people’s lives in danger. Is Julian Assange a hero or a villain?
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