Julian Assange appeals in ‘most important press freedom case in the world’
Al Jazeera
A court will decide if Julian Assange may appeal extradition to the US, where relatives say he could die in jail.
London’s High Court has scheduled two days of hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday to decide whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may appeal a United States request for extradition to stand trial on espionage charges.
Those charges carry maximum penalties of 175 years, but the real danger, says Assange’s wife Stella, is that he may suffer an inadvertent death penalty instead.
“His health is in decline, physically and mentally,” Stella Assange recently told reporters. “His life is at risk every single day he stays in prison, and if he’s extradited, he will die.”
If Wednesday’s decision goes against Assange, his legal team plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights – though a favourable ruling there may not come in time to stop an extradition.
A British judge agreed in January 2021, ruling he should not be extradited to the US because he was likely to commit suicide in near total isolation.
