LONDON: The US government will on Wednesday appeal against a decision to block the extradition of a British judge WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange To face trial for publishing military secrets.
In a two-day hearing, Washington will ask the High Court to overturn District Judge Vanessa Bariter’s January ruling that Assange faces a serious suicide risk if he is extradited across the Atlantic.
The United States has said it was “extremely disappointed” at its decision, arguing that the judge “did not appreciate the weight” of the expert evidence that Assange was not at risk of suicide.
Its lawyers have argued that Baratsar was “misled” in the evidence by Assange’s psychiatrist Michael Kopelman, which they claim their client gave birth to while in hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
During a preliminary hearing in August, the High Court granted a request to appeal the US government’s decision on five grounds.
Whatever the court’s two senior judges decide, years if not months and legal wrangling looms large.
If the US appeal is successful, the case will be sent back to a lower court for a new decision. And whoever loses can ask permission for another, final appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
Assange, 50, was arrested on bail in the UK in 2019 after spending seven years inside the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced sexual assault charges. These were later dropped.
Despite his extradition being blocked, he was denied bail until the outcome of the US appeal, amid fears that he would abscond.
He is being held in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison, which his fiancé Stella Morris – a former member of his legal team who is the mother of two of his young boys – branded this week “a horrible environment”.
Assange is wanted in Washington to face 18 charges related to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He has been charged with breaching the US Espionage Act and for hacking, based on alleged aid he provided to former military intelligence officer Chelsea Manning in obtaining documents from secure military computer systems.
If convicted in the US, he could face a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
Barritser said it was unclear whether Washington would be able to ensure his safety in US prisons known for “harsh conditions” while awaiting trial.
He rejected the testimony of US experts that Assange himself would be spared from harm, noting that others such as disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein managed to kill himself in custody.
Australian citizen Assange has a vocal campaign of supporters led by Morris and his legal team.
Morris said on Monday that she visited Assange in prison last weekend and was surprised by how thin he looked.
“She looked very unwell,” she said. “The point was that Julian would not survive extradition, that was the judge’s conclusion.”
Carl Tobias, a legal expert at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said there was “some chance” of winning the US appeal.
“The US may be able to convince the High Court that the baritone has given too much weight,” he told AFP.
“However, even if the High Court agrees with the US contention that it has given too much importance to the expert report, that may not be enough to overrule its entire decision,” he said.
Advocacy group Reporters Without Borders has urged President Joe Biden to drop the case, arguing that the WikiLeaks founder has been “targeted for his contributions to public interest reporting”.
Assange sought, but failed, a pardon from Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, whose 2016 election campaign benefited from the release of WikiLeaks materials that harmed his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
In a two-day hearing, Washington will ask the High Court to overturn District Judge Vanessa Bariter’s January ruling that Assange faces a serious suicide risk if he is extradited across the Atlantic.
The United States has said it was “extremely disappointed” at its decision, arguing that the judge “did not appreciate the weight” of the expert evidence that Assange was not at risk of suicide.
Its lawyers have argued that Baratsar was “misled” in the evidence by Assange’s psychiatrist Michael Kopelman, which they claim their client gave birth to while in hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
During a preliminary hearing in August, the High Court granted a request to appeal the US government’s decision on five grounds.
Whatever the court’s two senior judges decide, years if not months and legal wrangling looms large.
If the US appeal is successful, the case will be sent back to a lower court for a new decision. And whoever loses can ask permission for another, final appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
Assange, 50, was arrested on bail in the UK in 2019 after spending seven years inside the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced sexual assault charges. These were later dropped.
Despite his extradition being blocked, he was denied bail until the outcome of the US appeal, amid fears that he would abscond.
He is being held in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison, which his fiancé Stella Morris – a former member of his legal team who is the mother of two of his young boys – branded this week “a horrible environment”.
Assange is wanted in Washington to face 18 charges related to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He has been charged with breaching the US Espionage Act and for hacking, based on alleged aid he provided to former military intelligence officer Chelsea Manning in obtaining documents from secure military computer systems.
If convicted in the US, he could face a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
Barritser said it was unclear whether Washington would be able to ensure his safety in US prisons known for “harsh conditions” while awaiting trial.
He rejected the testimony of US experts that Assange himself would be spared from harm, noting that others such as disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein managed to kill himself in custody.
Australian citizen Assange has a vocal campaign of supporters led by Morris and his legal team.
Morris said on Monday that she visited Assange in prison last weekend and was surprised by how thin he looked.
“She looked very unwell,” she said. “The point was that Julian would not survive extradition, that was the judge’s conclusion.”
Carl Tobias, a legal expert at the University of Richmond in Virginia, said there was “some chance” of winning the US appeal.
“The US may be able to convince the High Court that the baritone has given too much weight,” he told AFP.
“However, even if the High Court agrees with the US contention that it has given too much importance to the expert report, that may not be enough to overrule its entire decision,” he said.
Advocacy group Reporters Without Borders has urged President Joe Biden to drop the case, arguing that the WikiLeaks founder has been “targeted for his contributions to public interest reporting”.
Assange sought, but failed, a pardon from Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, whose 2016 election campaign benefited from the release of WikiLeaks materials that harmed his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
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