Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has lost his attempt not to be extradited from the UK to the United States to face 18 criminal charges there relating to his site's release of countless confidential US military records and diplomatic cables.
The London High Court has approved Assange's extradition, with a judge stating in the court order Friday that Assange had no legal grounds to challenge the decision.
The 51-year-old Australian was expected to renew his appeal next week, according to his wife, Stella. "We remain optimistic that we will prevail and that Julian will not be extradited to the United States where he faces charges that could result in him spending the rest of his life in a maximum security prison for publishing true information that revealed war crimes committed by the US government," she said.
In 2021, a British judge previously ruled that Assange should not be extradited due to the risk of him committing suicide if convicted and held in a maximum security prison, but it was since overturned after an appeal by US authorities who gave a set of assurances, including a pledge to have him transferred to Australia to serve any sentence.
Assange is currently detained at Belmarsh Prison in southeast London after being forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in April 2019.
Wikileaks became prominent in 2010 after the site released hundreds of thousands of classified files and diplomatic correspondences in what was the largest security breach of its kind in American history.
