On Tuesday, lawyers for Julian Assange opened a U.K. legal challenge that could be the last trip up their proverbial sleeve in an attempt to stop the founder of WikiLeaks from being extradited to the United States to face charges of espionage, according to the Associated Press.
Assange's Argument
They argue that authorities in the United States are seeking to punish him for exposing criminal acts perpetrated by the U.S. Edward Fitzgerald, one of the lead counsels for Assange, said that there is a chance his defendant "will suffer a flagrant denial of justice" if he is sent to the U.S. During a two-day hearing in Britain's High Court, Assange's team is asking judges to grant a new appeal.
The defendant himself was not present. Judge Victoria Sharp said Assange was granted permission to travel from Belmarsh Prison, where he has been held for five years, to appear in person.
But he chose not to attend. His legal team said Assange has not been feeling well but would not disclose any further information about his condition.
The Case
Julian Assange has been battling extradition for over ten years, including self-exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for seven years, as well as spending the last five years in Belmarsh Prison, which sits on the outskirts of London.
Assange has been indicted on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse over his site's publication of classified U.S. documents 15 years ago.
Prosecutors in America say the accused helped U.S. Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning illegally obtain diplomatic communications and military files, which later were published on WikiLinks, putting lives at risk.
To his supporters, the Australian native is a hero journalist who exposed the wrongdoing of the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. They further argue that the prosecution is politically motivated and he won't get a fair trial. Last week, the Australian Parliament ruled that Assange should be allowed to return home.
If the British judges rule against Assange, he still can ask the European Court of Human Rights to block the extradition. Still, supporters are concerned he would be placed on a plane to the United States before that occurs because the British government has already signed an extradition order.
Assange's lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted, though American authorities have said the sentence is likely to be much shorter than that.
"He is being prosecuted for engaging in ordinary journalistic practice of obtaining and publishing classified information," lawyer Fitzgerald said in court, arguing that publication of leaked documents is a common journalistic practice, protected by well-established principles of free speech."The U.S. was prepared to go to any lengths (including misusing its own criminal justice system) to sustain impunity for U.S. officials in respect of the torture/war crimes committed in its infamous 'war on terror', and to suppress those actors and courts willing and prepared to try to bring those crimes to account," Assange's lawyers said in written arguments. "Mr. Assange was one of those targets."
Assange was arrested in 2010 in London at the request of the Swedish government, which wanted to question him over rap and sexual assault allegations levied against him by two women.
He jumped bail and sought refuge inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in 2012. Evicted in 2019, he was immediately arrested for breaching bail in 2012 by the British police and has remained in prison ever since.
Sweden eventually dropped the sex crime charges due to the amount of time that had passed since the allegations were made.
