UK court permits Assange extradition to US on spying charges

LONDON (AP) — A British appellate court opened the door Friday for Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States by overturning a lower court ruling that found the WikiLeaks founder’s mental health was too fragile to withstand the American criminal justice system.

The High Court in London ruled that U.S. assurances were enough to guarantee Assange would be treated humanely and directed a lower court judge to send the extradition request to the home secretary for review. The home secretary, who oversees law enforcement in the U.K., will make the final decision on whether toLONDON (AP) — A British appellate court opened the door Friday for Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States by overturning a lower court ruling that found the WikiLeaks founder’s mental health was too fragile to withstand the American criminal justice system.

The High Court in London ruled that U.S. assurances were enough to guarantee Assange would be treated humanely and directed a lower court judge to send the extradition request to the home secretary for review. The home secretary, who oversees law enforcement in the U.K., will make the final decision on whether to extradite Assange.

However, the appellate court ruling handed down Friday is likely to be appealed.

One chapter of the Assange saga might finally be coming to an end. Obviously there's still another chance for appeal but if that fails then Assange will be extradited to the US to face trial.

While I agree with the original mission of Wikileaks and their early work, I feel like they have become politicized in recent years. I also feel like while Assange may have had noble intentions when he created the site, it still put him in violation of national security laws.

I think Assange's best chance for a pardon was under Trump, which sadly did not manifest. While there may still be a few years left in this opera I don't think it can end any way other than Assange behind bars or dead.

So, in the hands of Priti Patel then, Hmmm, I wonder how that will turn out?. No laughing at the back.

Trump had 4 years to pardon him. Over to you, Biden.

He didn't do the hacking, he didn't do any spying.

All he did was publish war crimes committed by the US, that what started all this.

Killing the messenger instead of addressing the crimes.

An outrageous decision by the court to say the least. The last person i would want my fate to be in the hands of is Priti Patel. Best of luck to Mr Assange.

My view of Mr. Assange has changed over time. I used to think he was a loose cannon, an agitator, a toxic entity working against our national interests. Now I see that transparency and disclosure is always better than keeping secrets, no matter how harmful it might be to our sense of patriotism or national pride.

Trump did very poorly for not pardoning Assange or otherwise trying to secure better legal terms for him. He dropped the ball in that respect. Assange was, in principal, working against the notion of "deep state", on a global level, and Trump should've been onboard with that, given his stated cause de celebre of fighting the deep state.

It will be ironic (but totally not unexpected) for the Biden admin to refuse to pardon Assange, and in fact, go full throttle in prosecuting and punishing him. I expect Biden and his DoJ to crucify Assange; how very "liberal" of them.

Both teams play by the same rules, which is to say there are no rules at all, when it comes to those trying to blow the lid off their dirty secrets.

originally posted by: Soloprotocol
Trump had 4 years to pardon him.

The fact that he didn't pardon both Assange and Snowden is one of his two biggest failures.

The other is how he dealt with the plan/scam-demic.

I understand why he did Operation Warp Speed, but he should have also been issuing Executive Orders requiring hospitals and doctors to use anything and everything at their disposal to try to treat those who got sick, the only caveat being whether or not it was safe. This by itself would have prevented big pharma from getting their EUAs, both for the jabs, as well as their deadly drug (Remdesivir) that killed most of those who supposedly died from COVID19.

He should have created a list, and added to it often, things like HCQ and Ivermectin, and he should have made it a CRIME for any Doctor or Hospital Administrator to even TRY to prevent someone from getting access to these treatments.

He should have also ordered his Surgeon General to publish guidelines for nutritional supplements (D3, Zinc, Quercitin, NAC, etc) that would minimize the severity or prevent it altogether.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

Sadly for Assange he's still in HMP Belmarsh while awaiting another appeal , the State war against those who reveal the truth continues.

Shameful.

Thanks for the update Xcalibur

"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever."

America: "Hold my beer..."



To be fair, Eisenhower warned y'all years ago. Now here we all are.

To everyone defending this dirtbag because he exposed crimes and he's a "whistleblower," that would be great if that's all he did. He blanket released a metric ton of classified data, only a small portion of which was whistleblower-type material. The rest was legitimately classified. That's not what whistleblowers do. He's no different than Chelsea Manning, who should still be in prison.

a reply to: face23785

In todays' world, classified tends to mean skullduggery that cannot bear the light of day in order to maintain the illusion of well-meant government actions for the well-being of the people rather than a few people in government that profit from said action. Your mileage varies. Be well. It's Friday, chill pill?

originally posted by: Xcalibur254
One chapter of the Assange saga might finally be coming to an end. Obviously there's still another chance for appeal but if that fails then Assange will be extradited to the US to face trial.

While Assange's legal team may appeal to the UK Supreme Court, there is no guarantee that permission will be given. Regardless, the final arbiter is the Home Secretary who may approve extradition, or not. It's not a certainty, as previous Home Secretaries have refused to extradite in some situations.

Personally, the UK has given a good ride for Assange. He's either spent years frustrating the course of justice, or years in endless appeals and appeals against appeals. I think it's best for all that a decision is made either way.

Jeez, the guy has suffered enough already.
Especially for not committing a crime.

At the very least, he should be given better treatment than the actual traitorous spies who sold tons of classified info like Chelsea Manning -- so basically a hero's welcome.

originally posted by: face23785
To everyone defending this dirtbag because he exposed crimes and he's a "whistleblower," that would be great if that's all he did. He blanket released a metric ton of classified data, only a small portion of which was whistleblower-type material. The rest was legitimately classified. That's not what whistleblowers do. He's no different than Chelsea Manning, who should still be in prison.

That is not how protecting classified information works. He signed no such contract with the US government such as the SF 312 and is under no obligation to protect anything.

A rando on the street, including news orgs can say, print, and disclose whatever they want. If it happens to be classified, that isn't their problem unless it is clear that harm will come to those exposed. If you hold a security clearance like Manning, then you have legal problems.

If he legitimately stole the information from a classified source or requested someone to go get classified information that they didn't already have, he would be liable also under espionage laws. Being that he did he best to purposely keep back information that would directly put lives at risk, they will be hard-pressed to get him with the espionage act requirements.

originally posted by: Nexttimemaybe
He didn't do the hacking, he didn't do any spying.

All he did was publish war crimes committed by the US, that what started all this.

Killing the messenger instead of addressing the crimes.

Not disagreeing with anything you said.

Have to point out however that the espionage act and it statutes were clearly violated.

On the other hand, there are far more egregious examples of politicians doing the same and far, far worse.

Murderers literally putting the witness on trial.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

he'll end up in solitary somewhere

I think it’s inevitable that Assange will spend many years of he’s life in an American prison.

Not saying I agree with it either... It’s just what I think will eventually happen. Once the public completely lose interest in it, they’ll swoop in and lock him away.

a reply to: Xcalibur254

In a nutshell.....

https://twitter.com/catturd2/status/1469455591429087239

originally posted by: Sublimecraft
a reply to: Xcalibur254

In a nutshell.....

https://twitter.com/catturd2/status/1469455591429087239

where is my post?

he'll join daniael ellsburg and snowden.

Australian politicians are calling for Scott Morrison to get involved following this latest decision , about bloody time.

Australian parliamentarians have demanded the prime minister, Scott Morrison, intervene in the case of Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, after the United States won a crucial appeal in its fight to extradite the WikiLeaks founder on espionage charges.

“The prime minister must get Assange home,” the Australian Greens leader, Adam Bandt, told Guardian Australia on Saturday.

“An Australian citizen is being prosecuted for publishing details of war crimes, yet our government sits on its hands and does nothing.”

The independent MP Andrew Wilkie called on Morrison to “end this lunacy” and demand the US and UK release Assange.
www.theguardian.com...

“Again the United Kingdom proves it’s a lackey of the United States and that Australia is delighted to go along for the ride.”

Aint that the truth.