Wikileaks founder Julian Assange given temporary reprieve over extradition

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has been given a temporary reprieve from extradition to the US where he faces charges that could lead to 175 years in jail over Wikileaks’ publication of leaked documents that revealed alleged US war crimes.

Two judges said today that the court would delay proceedings against Assange to ask the US for assurances that the Wikileaks founder would not be subject to the death penalty and would be granted rights under the US constitution.

The 52 year old is charged with 17 counts under the US Espionage Act 1917 and one count under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, over WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of documents leaked by US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

The case, which represents the first time the US Espionage Act has been actively used to prosecute someone for publishing leaked government documents, has led to warnings from major news publishing groups and campaign groups that it would have a chilling effect on the work of journalists.

Dame Victoria Sharp president of the Kings Bench Division of the High Court, and Justice Johnson, dismissed most of Assange’s points of appeal in a judgment handed down on 26 March 2023 but found that three grounds that had a “real prospect of success”.

Court seeks US assurances

The court has now asked the US government to give diplomatic assurances that will allow Assange’s extradition to the US to go ahead. If the US fails to deliver the assurances, Assange, an Australian citizen, will be allowed to appeal against his extradition in the court of appeal.

The court is seeking assurances from the US that the Wikileaks founder will be granted free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US constitution, that he would not receive an unfair trial because of his nationality and that he would not be subject to the death penalty if extradition goes ahead.

Speaking after the verdict, his wife, Stella Assange said the UK courts were trying to resolve the case by “passing the buck” back to the US.

“There’s no protection for the individual even when there are political offences brought to the extradition. That’s the decision,” she said.

“It is clear that the British courts are uncomfortable. When you have a political case, the justice system behaves bizarrely,” she added.

Political offence

In a 66 page verdict, the court rejected Assange’s arguments that under the UK-US Extradition Treaty, the Wikileaks founder cannot be extradited for political offences.

The judges found that Parliament had chosen not to incorporate the US-UK extradition treaty, which prohibits political extraditions, into the Extradition Act 2003.

It was not an abuse of process, or contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights, to seek extradition for a political offence. The judges also concluded that Assange had failed to show that he was being extradited because of his political opinions.

The judgment found that the charges against Assange were limited to the publication of documents – supplied by US army whistleblower Chelsea Manning in 2010 – that identified human intelligence sources.

“There is a strong public interest in protecting the identities of human intelligence sources, and no countervailing public interest justification for publication has been identified,” it said.

There were strong reasons to conclude that the applicant’s activities did not accord with the “tenets of responsible journalism”.

The court also refused an application to present new evidence over CIA plans to kidnap Assange from the US Embassy. The judges said that evidence of the CIA plans had already been taken into account and were not relevant to the extradition process.

Assange had argued that former CIA director Mike Pompeo had embarked on a long-term campaign against WikiLeaks and Assange, referring to WikiLeaks as a “non-state hostile intelligence service”.

An investigation by Yahoo News, which spoke to 30 former US intelligence and national security officials later disclosed the CIA had discussed plans to abduct Assange and potentially to assassinate him.

Political ‘at every level’

Speaking after the verdict, Stella Assange said that the court appeared to be tying itself in knots by passing the buck back to the US.

“It’s political on every level, ” she said. “There’s no protection for the individual even when there are political offences brought to the extradition. That’s the decision.”

“Notably, the evidence that Julian was the victim of a murder conspiracy by the US government under the Trump administration and Mike Pompeo, was judged not to be relevant to this extradition, which is of course, incomprehensible,” she said.  

Chilling impact on press freedom

Journalists, news publishers and campaigners said today that Assange’s extradition, if it goes ahead, would have a chilling impact on journalism.

Trevor Timm, president of the  Freedom of the Press Foundation said that virtually all major news publications and civil liberties organisations had warned that the prosecution would impact core rights to press freedom.

“Assange’s conviction in American courts would create a dangerous precedent that the U.S. government can and will use against reporters of all stripes who expose its wrongdoing or embarrass it. The Biden administration should take the opportunity to drop this dangerous case once and for all,” he said.

Michelle Stanistreet, president of the UK National Union of Journalists, welcomed the decision to give Julian Assange a temporary reprieve, but warned that extradition would damage journalism.

“Assange’s prosecution by the US is for activities that are daily work for investigative journalists – finding sources with evidence of criminality and helping them to get their stories out into the world. If Assange is prosecuted, free expression the world over will be damaged,” she said.

Stella Assange said that the case would have ramifications for journalists around the world.

“This case serves no purpose other than to intimidate journalists all around the world, not just here, not just in the United States. It is sending a chilling effect that is creating not just a legal precedent but a political precedent” she said.

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