The British government has approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States after years of struggle to remain in the United Kingdom.
For more than 10 years, the US has been trying to judge the 50-year-old Australian for publishing classified documents.
WikiLeaks said it would defy order, but what comes next and what steps can they take?
Why does the US want Mr. Assange extradited?
In 2010, WikiLeaks published more than 91,000 documents, most of which were US military secret reports on the war in Afghanistan.
That same year, the publication published some 400,000 classified U.S. military files recounting the Iraq war from 2004 to 2009.
It is the largest leak of its kind in U.S. military history.
U.S. authorities want WikiLeaks founder to be charged with espionage, but his supporters say he was exposing war crimes and abuse of power.
Authorities have said the release of the information is life-threatening. (AP: PA / Victoria Jones)
How long has it been?
Assange had received political asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy in London and lived there from 2012 to 2019.
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice formally asked the United Kingdom to extradite Mr. Assange to face charges in the United States.
As of April 2019, Assange has been in Belmarsh’s maximum security prison while his case is under British law.
Hearings on his extradition began in February 2020, but were delayed until September due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier last year, the trial judge concluded that it would be “oppressive” to extradite him to the United States because of his frail mental health, saying there was a real risk that his life would be ruined.
However, that decision was overturned on appeal after the United States issued a package of guarantees, including a promise that Mr Assange could be transferred to Australia to serve any sentence.
Why is he being extradited now?
Following this court ruling, the British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, signed an order during the night authorizing Mr Assange’s extradition.
The Home Office said in a statement that the government should approve his transfer to the US because “UK courts have not ruled that it would be oppressive, unfair or abusive to extradite Mr Assange.”
What happens next?
Mr Assange’s lawyers now have 14 days to file an appeal.
Nick Vamos, the former extradition chief of the British Crown Prosecution Service, said the sentences were regularly overturned by the High Court.
Mr Assange could claim again that the extradition request was politically motivated and used new evidence, such as his allegations that the CIA had conspired to assassinate him.
“We’re not at the end of the road here,” said his wife, Stella Assange. “We’re going to fight that.”
Julian Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, says the family will fight the decision. (Reuters: Henry Nicholls)
Assange’s lawyers said they would present a new legal challenge, and legal experts say the case could take months or even years to conclude.
“We will go through all this, if necessary, before the European Court of Human Rights,” said Mr Assange’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson.
Robinson called on U.S. President Joe Biden to drop charges against Assange during Donald Trump’s presidency, arguing that they posed a “serious threat” to free speech.
Attorney Greg Barns said court cases take time.
“It’s been two or three years since the first extradition hearing, I think in 2020 the first extradition hearing, so far,” he said.
“If the court ends up appealing to the European Court of Human Rights, which it could do, it will take a few years.”
“This is an Australian whose mental and physical health continues to decline.”
Australia reacts to extradition decision
Australian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to pick up the phone now and demand an end to what he called “madness”.
“Somehow, it’s not surprising, because the UK government has generally taken a hands-free approach to the Assange case,” Wilkie said.
“We have been saying that this is a political issue, and it has been from the beginning.
“We are in a hurry and hope that now is the time for Australia to get involved with its key allies in London and Washington and put an end to this.”
The demands of Mr. Wilkie for the Prime Minister to speak with his counterparts in the United Kingdom and the United States have the support of a number of cross-cutting MPs such as Monique Ryan, Allegra Spender and Zali Stegall.
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Mr Assange’s family has vowed to fight the decision using all possible legal means.
Barns said the federal government should intervene.
“There are a couple of important things to remember about the case,” he said.
“The first is that while he is in court, he is no longer in court, it is a political decision.
“The second point is that Australia can use its relationship with Washington to bring an Australian to safety.
“We saw David Hicks for almost 20 years [ago] now, which was found in Guantánamo Bay.
“The Howard government at the time brought him back to Australia. This is not without precedent. It is important that Australia be able to use its great relationship with Washington to ensure the safety of Australians.”
ABC / children
Posted 12 hours, 12 hours ago, Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 2:17 AM, updated 7 hours ago, 7 hours ago, Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 7:26 AM