British Justice Rejects Assange's Appeal to Appeal Against His Extradition to the US

The British Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to appeal against his extradition to the United States, where he would be tried for a massive leak of documents, the court announced, Wikileaks reported Monday.

A spokeswoman for the Court indicated that the court “refused to give permission to appeal”, as the request did not raise “any point of law (likely to be) debatable.”

The spokeswoman added that “the parties were informed this afternoon.”

The case will now remain in the hands of interior minister Priti Patel, Wikileaks said on Twitter.

The 50-year-old Australian is being prosecuted by the US justice system for disseminating, since 2010, more than 700,000 classified documents on US military and diplomatic activities, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Among those documents was a video showing civilians, including two journalists from the Reuters agency, shot dead by a US combat helicopter in Iraq in July 2007.

Assange is also prosecuted under anti-espionage legislation and can be sentenced to 175 years in prison, in a case reported as an attack on freedom of the press by his supporters.

In January 2021, the British justice decided in favor of the founder of Wikileaks. Invoking Julian Assange's risk of suicide, Judge Vanessa Baraitser refused to authorize extradition.

But the United States won a major victory in December, when the High Court overturned that decision, considering that that country gave assurances regarding the judge's concerns.

Julian Assange obtained permission to appeal against the High Court's decision on 24 January last.

Regretting the Supreme Court's decision, the defense of the founder of Wikileaks indicated that the case would now return to the jurisdiction of the first instance.

However, an appeal on the legal grounds that have not yet been examined is still possible, said the defense of Julian Assange, the Birnberg Peirce cabinet.

“This separate appeal procedure must, of course, be resumed,” said the cabinet.

- Marriage in prison -

Imprisoned in a high-security prison near London for nearly three years, Julian Assange had been arrested by British police in April 2019 after spending seven years at the London embassy in Ecuador where he took refuge while on parole.

He then feared extradition to the United States, or to Sweden, where he had rape proceedings that were later abandoned.

At the appeal hearing in late October, the US government tried to provide assurances about the treatment that would be reserved for it.

He stated that he would not be imprisoned at ADX High Security Prison in Florence, Colorado, where members of Al Qaeda are being held in almost total isolation.

They also said that he would receive the necessary clinical and psychological care. The Americans also mentioned the possibility that he could ask to serve his sentence in Australia.

These guarantees convinced the British judges, but not those close to Julian Assange, who fear for their mental and physical health.

Her partner Stella Moris, a South African lawyer, announced on Sunday that the couple received permission to marry on March 23 in prison.

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