Continuation guaranteed

Decision in the Assange case expected on Tuesday

The next round in the seemingly endless tug-of-war over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange: he is allowed to appeal against the UK's extradition order to the USA. This was decided by the British High Court on Tuesday in an eagerly awaited decision. Assange thus gets another reprieve.

The 52-year-old, who is imprisoned in London, is facing a long prison sentence in the USA because his whistleblowing platform published confidential information about the actions of the US military. Assange, on the other hand, faces prosecution for his journalistic work.

USA now has three weeks to provide guarantees
As the London judges explained, Assange's appeal was rejected on six of nine points. Three further points depend on whether the US government and the British Home Secretary can provide appropriate guarantees. The judges set a deadline of three weeks for this.

Next deadline May 20
A final decision is to be made on the basis of a further hearing on May 20. The question will be whether Assange can invoke the right to freedom of expression in a trial in the USA and enjoy the same rights as US citizens, that he will not be prejudged because of his citizenship and that the death penalty will not be imposed.

175 years in prison
The US government wants to put the Australian on trial on espionage charges. Together with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, Assange is alleged to have stolen and published secret material from military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, thereby endangering the lives of US informants. She faces up to 175 years in prison.

In high-security prison for five years
Assange has been in Belmarsh maximum security prison in London for almost five years. Prior to his arrest in April 2019, he had spent several years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London evading law enforcement authorities. They had initially targeted him for rape allegations in Sweden, which were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.