WikiLeaks\u2019 Julian Assange can continue his fight against extradition to the United States after the High Court in London ruled on Tuesday he should be allowed to appeal against it unless the U.S. promises he will not face the death penalty.
\nU.S. prosecutors are seeking to put Assange, 52, on trial on 18 counts, all bar one under the Espionage Act, over WikiLeaks\u2019 high-profile release of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables.
\nAssange\u2019s lawyers in February sought permission to challenge Britain\u2019s approval of his extradition.
\nIn their ruling, two senior judges said he had a real prospect of successfully appealing against extradition on a number of grounds.
\nThe court said in its written ruling that Assange arguably would not be entitled to rely on the First Amendment right to free speech as a non-U.S. national and that he could later be charged with a capital offence, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him.
\nBritish ministers \u201chad an explicit statutory obligation not to order the applicant\u2019s extradition if he could be sentenced to death for the offence concerned, or if he could be charged with an extradition offence disclosed by the same facts in respect of which a sentence of death could be imposed,\u201d the judges said.
\nIf those assurances are not forthcoming, then Assange will be granted permission to appeal. A further hearing has been scheduled for May 20, meaning his extradition \u2013 which his campaign team said could have been imminent depending on the ruling \u2013 has been put on hold.
\nAlthough Assange\u2019s legal team were successful on some grounds, the court rejected his bid to appeal on the basis that the case was politically motivated or that he would not receive a fair trial.
\nThe U.S. says the WikiLeaks\u2019 revelations imperilled the lives of their agents and there was no excuse for his criminality.
\nAssange\u2019s many supporters hail him as an anti-establishment hero who is being persecuted, despite being a journalist, for exposing U.S. wrongdoing and alleged war crimes.
\nThe U.S. meanwhile said Assange had been charged for \u201cindiscriminately and knowingly\u201d publishing sources\u2019 names and not his political opinions.
\n(Reuters)extradition appeal. extradition appeal, Espionage Act charges, free speech rights<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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