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LONDON (AP) — A British judge on Wednesday formally approved the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States to face espionage charges. The case will go to the UK’s interior minister for a decision, although the WikiLeaks founder still has legal appeals.
The decision, which brought the years-long extradition war even closer, comes after the UK’s Supreme Court last month denied permission to appeal Assange’s decision by a lower court that he could extradite.
District Judge Paul Goldspring issued the warrant at a brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court as Assange was video-linked from Belmarsh Prison and gathered outside the courthouse demanding his release.
Home Secretary Priti Patel will now decide whether to grant an extradition order.
The move doesn’t exhaust the legal options for Assange, who has spent years trying to avoid prosecution in the United States over accusations that WikiLeaks released an enormous treasury of classified documents more than a decade ago.
Their attorneys have four weeks to present to Patel, and they can also appeal to the Supreme Court.
Assange’s attorney, Mark Summers, told the court that the legal team had “serious presentations” to make.
The United States has asked British officials to extradite Assange so he can stand trial on 17 espionage charges and one computer misuse charge. American prosecutors say Assange risked lives by unlawfully helping US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal secret diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks later released.
Supporters and lawyers of 50-year-old Assange argue that he acted as a journalist and enjoys freedom of speech protection under the First Amendment because he published documents exposing the wrongdoings of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. They argue that his case was politically motivated.
A British district court judge initially rejected the US extradition request on the grounds that Assange could have killed himself if held in harsh US prison conditions. US authorities later reassured the WikiLeaks founder that he would not face violent treatment, which his lawyers said would put his physical and mental health at risk.
In December, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s decision, saying that US promises were enough to guarantee Assange would be treated humanely. The Supreme Court rejected Assange’s attempt to appeal that decision in March.
Assange’s lawyers said he could face up to 175 years in prison if found guilty in the US, while US officials said the sentence would likely be much lower than that.
Assange has been held at the maximum security Belmarsh Prison in London, England since 2019, when he was arrested for escaping bail during a separate legal battle. Prior to that, she spent seven years at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Sweden dropped its sexual crimes investigation in November 2019 because it was too long.
Last month, Assange and his partner, Stella Moris, got married in a prison ceremony.
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