The United States is seeking to convict Julian Assange under the Espionage Act of 1917. (document)
London:
Julian Assange will die if extradited to the United States ahead of his latest appeal against a British ruling, his wife said on Thursday.
Assange, 52, is wanted by the United States on espionage charges and has been held at the high-security Belmarsh prison in southeast London since April 2019.
Stella Assange told a news conference that if the appeal failed, her husband could be flown to the United States “within days” before a two-day High Court hearing begins next Tuesday.
She said the situation was “extremely serious” because his mental and physical health was “declining”. “If he is extradited, he will die,” she added.
Julian Assange was arrested after hiding in Ecuador’s London embassy for seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced sexual assault charges that were eventually dropped.
U.S. authorities want to put the Australian publisher on trial for leaking U.S. military secrets related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Two judges at London’s High Court will hear Assange’s request to be allowed to appeal against a recent ruling granting extradition. Last June, a judge rejected the appeal.
But if the appeal is successful, Assange will have more opportunities to argue his case in the UK’s domestic courts, with a date set for a full appeal hearing.
If he loses, he will have exhausted all UK appeals avenues and will enter extradition proceedings, although his team has said it will appeal to the European Court of Justice.
‘Anti-journalism epidemic’
The UK is part of the European Court of Human Rights, which has the power to order a stay on extradition. However, these are only given in “special circumstances”.
It also asked the British government to accept the order, which is uncertain given Britain’s ongoing dispute with the European Court of Justice after it blocked its plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Assange is accused of publishing approximately 700,000 classified documents related to U.S. military and diplomatic activities starting in 2010.
The United States is seeking to convict Assange under the Espionage Act of 1917, which his supporters warn would mean he could be sentenced to 175 years in prison.
A British court approved the extradition request after the United States vowed not to hold him in its most extreme prison, ADX Florence, or impose a harsh regime called “special administrative measures” on him.
But Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor in chief of WikiLeaks, said on Thursday that the caveats contained in the pledges meant they were “not worth the paper they were written on.”
He added that the impact of the case on the future of press freedom “cannot be underestimated”.
“Journalists everywhere, including those of you here today, are not safe,” he said of the “anti-journalism epidemic” sweeping the world.
Assange’s wife, Stella, said she had “learned not to be optimistic” ahead of the court ruling and was worried about the potential outcome.
She said: “Julian is going to be put into a hole so far and deep into the ground that I don’t think I’ll ever see him again.”
It is unclear whether a decision will be made immediately after next week’s hearing or whether it will be withheld, or whether Assange will be allowed to attend in person.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
