Julian Assange, the beleaguered publisher of WikiLeaks, scored a critical legal victory on Monday when the British court hearing his appeal granted him the permission to file an appeal against the extradition order for sending him to the United States where he faces prison for life for exposing US military’s war crimes during the Bush and Obama administrations.
BBC reported on Monday (May 20) that two senior judges of the High Court granted Assange’s request for a full appeal in the United Kingdom against an earlier extradition order of June 2022 after the British Supreme Court rejected his request for appealing his extradition. Assange, his family and supporters, and free speech advocates worldwide have rejected the US government assurances that he would get a fair trial in the US and will not get the death penalty if/when convicted.
Assange drew the wrath of the US military establishment and intelligence leadership when he published leaked classified files, including video footage, in 2010 that revealed US military’s reckless killing of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The files were damaging to the reputation of the US military and federal government as they revealed what would amount to war crimes. In April 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ), under then Attorney General William Barr, formally charged Assange with espionage though the sealed indictment against him was first reported in 2018. Assange was dragged out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and jailed, pending his extradition trial.
Assange has maintained that he only published the classified files as any media or publication would do and is being politically targeted for exposing the ugly truth about America’s wars. Monday’s ruling was celebrated by Assange’s family and his well-wishers. Kristinn Hrafnsson, investigative journalist and the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks, told supporters outside the court in London that they have finally seen a glimpse of justice. He called on the Biden administration to drop the case against Assange that they are going to lose inevitably.
Stella Assange, Julian Assange’s wife, addressed her husband’s supporters and said that the Biden administration should distance itself from this shameful prosecution; it should have done so from day one.
RT (formerly Russia Today) correspondent Marina Kosareva commented on Monday’s court ruling in favor of Assange saying that it doesn’t change a lot as Assange will continue appealing, which he has been doing for years now. Kosareva briefly touched on last month’s news that Joe Biden told Australian authorities that he will consider their request to drop charges against Assange. She said that it could likely be Biden’s reelection strategy to improve his image.
British journalist Matt Kennard posted on X (formerly called Twitter) that he was in the court for the hearing and he witnessed the US case against Assange shredded in just over an hour. He added, “The CIA’s lawyers were all over place.”