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#Julian Assange Extradition

xtruss · 13 days

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Biden Administration Issues “Weasel Words” Assurances To Secure Assange’s Extradition

— Thomas Scripps | Wednesday April 17, 2024 | World Socialist Web Site | WSWS.ORG

The United States has provided “assurances” to the UK government to further its pursuit of WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange, held in London’s maximum security Belmarsh prison.

The US is seeking to prosecute Assange on charges under the Espionage Act which carry a de facto life sentence for publishing documents exposing war crimes and human rights abuses carried out by Washington and its imperialist allies.

Julian Assange. Photo by David G. Silvers, Cancillería del Ecuador/CC BY-SA 2.0

When, at the end of last month, the UK’s High Court offered the US the opportunity to provide such commitments to prevent Assange from appealing against his extradition to America, the World Socialist Web Site wrote, “The court’s proposals are a fig leaf. US prosecutors will furnish ‘assurances’ as worthless as those already provided in connection with his conditions of imprisonment.”

This has been confirmed. The commitments required by the court were that Assange would not be subject to the death penalty, and two connected points that he would not be prejudiced at trial by virtue of his Australian nationality and would be granted free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

A facsimile of the letter sent by the US Embassy to UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron Tuesday, published by Consortium News, reads:

“Assange will not be prejudiced by reason of his nationality with respect to which defenses he may seek to raise at trial and sentencing. Specifically, if extradited, Assange will have the ability to raise and seek to rely upon at trial… the rights and protections given under the First Amendment.” It then stresses, “A decision as to the applicability of the First Amendment is exclusively within the purview of the U.S. Courts.”

It continues: “A sentence of death will neither be sought nor imposed on Assange… These assurances are binding on any and all present or subsequent individuals to whom authority has been delegated to decide these matters.”

Assange’s wife Stella was quick to point out the “blatant weasel words” of the first assurance, which only states that Assange can “seek to raise” First Amendment rights—it does not guarantee that he will receive them.

Legally, this should bar extradition outright.

Section 87 of the UK’s Extradition Act (2003) requires the courts to “decide whether the person’s extradition would be compatible with the Convention rights [European Convention on Human Rights] within the meaning of the Human Rights Act 1998… If the judge decides the question… in the negative he must order the person’s discharge.”

Article 10 of the Convention is the right to freedom of expression, or free speech. The same protection is enshrined in the US legal system in the form of the First Amendment. But the US Embassy’s letter leaves the door open to this right being denied to Assange at the say so of the US courts.

As Stella Assange noted, the letter pointedly “makes no undertaking to withdraw the prosecution’s previous assertion that Julian has no first amendment rights because he is not a US citizen.”

Both the lead prosecutor Gordon Kromberg and the former CIA Director Mike Pompeo have made this claim.

Stella Assange added that her husband’s “life is at risk” every day he is in prison: 'The diplomatic note does nothing to relieve our family's extreme distress about his future—his grim expectation of spending the rest of his life in isolation in US prison for publishing award-winning journalism.”

Her statement underscores the cynicism of the death penalty assurance offered by the US. Substantial medical evidence has been provided in Assange’s case confirming the significant likelihood of suicide in the event of extradition to and imprisonment in the US. His mental and physical health have already declined sharply in the five years he has spent in Belmarsh.

Nor is it beyond the US government—whose intelligence agencies surveilled Assange and plotted his assassination—to renege on its promise or see to it that Assange is killed “unofficially”.

Underscoring the case’s lawless character, on the same day the US sent its “assurances” to the UK, CIA Director William Burns submitted a statement to the Spanish courts. Burns asserted that “the CIA’s statutory privileges… to protect intelligence sources, methods, and activities at issue” in a case examining the Agency’s spying against Assange, refusing to either confirm or deny its involvement or to provide “factual bases for my privilege assertions”.

None of this was acknowledged by the Democratic Party-aligned New York Times, which sunk to new lows in its reporting of the case by citing some of Stella Assange’s comments while excising her reference to the Biden administration’s “weasel words”, allowing it to run a totally uncritical article headlined, “U.S. Lays Out Protections for Assange if He Is Extradited”.

The UK courts will likely take the same wilfully credulous view.

Geoffrey Robertson KC, founder and joint head of Doughty Street Chambers which is representing Assange, and who previously represented him directly, claimed, “Unless you can guarantee it [free speech rights], I think the British courts will be dubious about extraditing Mr Assange to a situation or to a trial where he doesn’t have the equal protection of the laws.”

This will doubtless be the legally impeccable argument advanced by Assange’s lawyers at the next hearing scheduled for May 20. But the High Court has already accepted equally worthless assurances at an earlier stage in the case to override warnings about Assange’s significant risk of suicide—barring extradition under Section 91 of the Extradition Act.

These “guaranteed” that Assange would not be placed in America’s supermax prison, the ADX Florence, or be subjected to Special Administrative Measures (SAMS), implicitly acknowledged to constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment prohibited under Article 3 of the Convention. But in each case, the undertaking was given “subject to the condition that the United States retains the power to impose SAMs [or an ADX designation] on Mr Assange in the event that, after entry of this assurance, he was to commit any future act that met the test for the imposition of a SAM [or ADX designation].”

The UK’s High Court responded favourably in their December 2021 judgment that it could “see no merit in the criticisms made of the individual assurances… There is no basis for assuming that the USA has not given the assurances in good faith.”

Screenshots of the US Letter of Assurances From X, Formerly Twitter. Megan Specia @meganspecia! US has filed assurances in Assange extradition case, which were requested by a British court before it makes a final decision on his ability to appeal. Next step is a hearing on May 20.

In its latest ruling, dismissing Assange’s right to appeal provided the new assurances were given, the High Court was again at pains to stress the trustworthiness of the US state, even to the point of denying that there was “anything to show” a connection between CIA plots to kidnap or poison Assange and the prosecutor’s attempt to have him extradited.

If the assurances are accepted by the High Court on May 20, Assange’s request for an appeal will be dismissed, leaving him at imminent risk of extradition. His legal team have submitted a preliminary appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, but it is unclear whether the UK would abide by orders from that court to keep Assange in its custody until it has reached a decision even if Strasbourg agrees to hear the case.

Amid the vital and ongoing legal defence being mounted, workers must understand that Assange’s fate depends on stepping up the global campaign demanding his release.

#Britain 🇬🇧#United States 🇺🇸#Australia 🇦🇺#Europe 🇪🇺#Democratic Rights #Media Issues #Julian Assange #Free Julian Assange #Hands Off Julian Assange #War Criminal | Genocidal | Joe Biden Administration #Weasel Words | Assurances #Julian Assange Extradition #World Socialist Web Site | WSWS.ORG

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teritelnirbenothing · 2 months

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Quels sont les enjeux ? Pour la première fois, le gouvernement américain tente d’utiliser sa loi sur l’espionnage de 1917 contre un journaliste et un éditeur. Assange n’est pas un citoyen américain et ses publications ont eu lieu au Royaume-Uni. Si les États-Unis réussissent, ils auront redéfini le journalisme d’investigation comme étant de l’”espionnage”. Ils auront étendu leur portée judiciaire au niveau international et l’auront appliquée à un citoyen non américain sans extension équivalente des droits du premier amendement, dont les procureurs soutiennent qu’ils ne s’appliquent pas à M. Assange en tant que citoyen non américain publiant depuis le Royaume-Uni. Cette décision constitue une menace existentielle pour la liberté de la presse, car d’autres pays pourront faire valoir qu’ils devraient eux aussi être autorisés à extrader des journalistes et des éditeurs du Royaume-Uni pour avoir enfreint leurs lois sur la censure ou le secret.

#julian assange #extradition

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skybluekoneko · 2 years

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Most people have probably heard of this case and by now, it looks like Assange's extradition will happen unless UK's Home Secretary Priti Patel rejects it after May 18th.

The petition above by Reporters Without Borders can be signed by anyone no matter the country you come from afaik, so pls consider spreading the word and signing.

#julian assange #freedom of speech #politics #petition #freeassange #i know this may seem like sth insignificant compared to many other things happening these days #but hopefully some people will at least get to know about it this way #it might be the last chance to stop the extradition #and sadly its not even mentioned in any news around here so...#where i live i mean #so i guess i just decided to share the link in hopes of more people becoming aware of it #and perhaps even signing

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tilos-tagebuch · 1 month

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🇬🇧 High Court verzögert mögliche Auslieferung von Julian Assange

Der High Court in London hat die Auslieferung von Julian Assange auf Eis gelegt, bis die Vereinigten Staaten mehr Sicherheit darüber geben, wie der WikiLeaks-Verlag in US-Gewahrsam behandelt wird.

Das Gericht bat die USA um die Zusicherung, dass Assange sich auf die erste Änderung stützen darf, dass er nicht vor Gericht diskriminiert wird, weil er Australier ist, und dass er nicht mit der Todesstrafe rechnen muss.

Das Gericht entschied auch, dass Assange möglicherweise zusätzliche Rechtsmittel einlegen kann, um die Auslieferung zu blockieren.

Dies hängt jedoch davon ab, wie die USA auf den Antrag des Gerichts reagieren.

Source: https://www.0815-info.news/Web_Links-U-dot-K-dot-High-Court-verzoegert-moegliche-Auslieferung-von-Julian-Assange-visit-11406.html

#gb #high court #london #julian assange #wikileaks #extradition #free assange #uk

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conatic · 1 month

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Extradition vers les Etats-Unis : l’étau se resserre pour Julian Assange - Le Soir

https://www.lesoir.be/577045/article/2024-03-26/extradition-vers-les-etats-unis-letau-se-resserre-pour-julian-assange

Source: lesoir.be

#julian assange #extradition #USA #recours #tribunaux #royaume uni

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garudabluffs · 2 months

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this hearing today and yesterday, is merely about whether Julian Assange has a right to appeal the extradition to the United States

“Political Prosecution”: WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange Faces Final U.K. Appeal to Avoid U.S. Extradition

February 21, 2024 "Assange was again unable to attend today’s hearing due to serious poor health and is not even able to follow the proceedings via video, according to his lawyers."

"He’s never been charged and convicted of anything other than a bail violation in the U.K. And that conviction was spent in under two years. He’s still there on remand. And it’s nearly five years he’s been there."

LISTEN READ MORE Transcript https://www.democracynow.org/2024/2/21/assange_extradition

Table of Contents

Foreword by Chris Hedges Preface Introduction Part 1: How We Owned You 1. Creating a Modern-day Slave State 2. The Racket 3. Rigging the System 4. Cursing Your Riches

Part 2: Enforcement 5. The Mob 6. With Friends Like These 7. Might is Right 8. A Drug War Colony 9. War on Hope

Part 3: Reinforcement 10. The First Peoples of America and Their Land 11. Working America 12. Destitute America 13. Lock-up America

Part 4: We're Losing You

Turf War

Freedom Fighters

Revolutionaries

Successful Defiance

Culture as a Weapon of Resistance Afterword Index

Now more relevant than ever, this 2nd edition contains a new preface by the author and a new foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges.

#Julian Assange #extradition hearing

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xtruss · 13 days

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Extradition of “Australian Julian Paul Assange, The Founder of The WikiLeaks,” On Hold Until U.S. Gives More Assurances (Hello Australia! Where The F*** Are You?)

British Judges Asked the United States, Which Wants to Try the WikiLeaks Founder on Espionage Charges, For More Guarantees About His Treatment.

— By Megan Specia | March 26, 2024 | The New York Times

Julian Assange’s wife, Stella Assange, speaking outside the High Court in London during a hearing in February. Credit...Carl Court/Getty Images

The High Court in London ruled on Tuesday that Julian Assange, the embattled WikiLeaks founder, cannot be immediately extradited to the United States, saying American authorities must offer assurances about his treatment first, including over his First Amendment rights and protection from the death penalty.

The decision had been highly anticipated as the moment the court would decide if Mr. Assange had exhausted his challenges within British courts. Instead, in a nuanced ruling, two judges determined that clarity on his fate would again be on hold.

The two High Court judges said that the court “will grant leave to appeal” on narrow grounds, “unless a satisfactory assurance is provided by the Government of the United States of America.”

The court has given the United States three weeks “to give satisfactory assurances” that Mr. Assange “is permitted to rely on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (which protects free speech), that he is not prejudiced at trial (including sentence) by reason of his nationality, that he is afforded the same First Amendment protections as a United States citizen and that the death penalty is not imposed.”

If those assurances are not given by April 16, then Mr. Assange will be granted a full appeal hearing. If the United States does provide the requested assurances, there will be a further hearing on May 20 to decide if they “are satisfactory, and to make a final decision on leave to appeal.”

While the United States has already provided some assurances over the treatment of Mr. Assange if he was extradited, the High Court judges asked for additional guarantees.

The Case Against Julian Assange:

— Who is Julian Assange? Assange is the founder of WikiLeaks. He rose to international prominence in 2010, when the group released diplomatic and military files related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan leaked by Chelsea Manning, an Army intelligence analyst. In 2016, ahead of the U.S. presidential election, WikiLeaks published Democratic National Committee emails stolen by hackers tied to Russian intelligence agencies.

— When did Assange’s Legal Troubles Begin? In 2012, Assange fled to the Ecuadorean Embassy in London to escape extradition to Sweden, where he faced an inquiry into accusations of rape and sexual assault that were later dropped. He remained in the embassy for seven years, until he was ejected in 2019.

— What Happened Next? The United States unsealed an indictment against Assange and sought his extradition, with prosecutors accusing him of violating the Espionage Act for his role in the 2010 disclosures and of conspiring to hack into a Pentagon computer network.

— Where is Assange Now? After he was expelled from the embassy, Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in jail in London for breaching bail conditions related to the rape inquiry. He has remained at Belmarsh Prison, where he married his longtime partner in 2022, while his lawyers fought his U.S. extradition order.

— What’s the Status of the Extradition Case? Five years after Assange was first imprisoned in a high-security facility in Britain while fighting a United States extradition request, the Biden administration has given the clearest signal to date that it might drop its prosecution of him. His wife said that her hopes were tempered.

The United States has sought the extradition of Mr. Assange since 2019, and the British government approved an extradition order in 2022, but he has fought his removal through the courts while detained in a high-security prison in southeast London.

Mr. Assange, 52, is accused of violating the U.S. Espionage Act with WikiLeaks’ 2010 publication of tens of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents leaked by Chelsea Manning, an Army intelligence analyst.

Speaking outside the London court on Tuesday, Stella Assange, Mr. Assange’s wife, urged the U.S. government to drop the charges against her husband.

“The Biden administration should not offer assurances. They should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought,” she told reporters gathered outside the court. “Julian should never have been in prison for a single day. This is a shame on every democracy. Julian is a political prisoner.”

As Mr. Assange’s case has unfolded over the years, it has become highly charged politically, raising First Amendment issues and alarming advocates of media freedom. The United States, Britain, where his extradition case is being heard, and Australia — where Mr. Assange is a citizen — are all involved, and in recent months there have been calls for some political resolution to see the charges reduced or dismissed.

Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said that Tuesday’s ruling “presents the U.S. government with another opportunity to do what it should have done long ago — drop the Espionage Act charges.”

“Prosecuting Assange for the publication of classified information would have profound implications for press freedom,” Mr. Jaffer said in a statement, “Because publishing classified information is what journalists and news organizations often need to do in order to expose wrongdoing by government.”

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.

Here’s a Brief History of the Case Against Julian Assange.

Mr. Assange moved to Britain in late 2010 from Sweden. The Swedish police issued an international arrest warrant for him later that year over sexual assault accusations.

In June 2012, he was granted political asylum in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London — where he stayed for the next seven years.

Sweden dropped its case against Mr. Assange. He was thrown out of the embassy in 2019, and shortly after, the United States announced an indictment against him, charging him with 18 counts of violating the Espionage Act by participating in a criminal hacking conspiracy and by encouraging hackers to steal secret material.

He was promptly arrested, and has been seeking to halt his removal to the United States through British courts ever since.

In 2021, a British judge denied the extradition request for Mr. Assange, ruling that he was at risk of suicide if sent to an American prison. But the High Court later reversed that decision based on assurances from the Biden administration that he would not be held in the United States’ highest-security facility and that, if convicted, he could serve his sentence in Australia.

By 2022, Priti Patel, who as Britain’s home secretary was responsible for the country’s borders and security, had approved the extradition request — and Mr. Assange’s legal team fought that as well.

When a lower-court judge denied their request that he be allowed to appeal, they asked the High Court to overturn that move.

Mr. Assange’s lawyers say that he could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted, although lawyers for the United States government have said that he was more likely to be sentenced to four to six years.

And Here’s What Happened at the Most Recent Court Hearings.

During a two-day hearing in the High Court in February, Mr. Assange’s lawyer Edward Fitzgerald told the judges, Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson, that his client had been “exposing serious criminality” by publishing the leaked documents, and laid out nine grounds on which Mr. Assange hoped to appeal the extradition order.

In their ruling on Tuesday, the judges dismissed six of the nine grounds for appeal as unfounded.

But they said that Mr. Assange had a “real prospect of success” on three of the issues raised, including on the threat to his freedom of expression in the United States; that his trial might be prejudiced because as an Australian he might not be given the same rights as American citizens; and that there was nothing to prevent the death penalty from being imposed, which would violate British extradition policies.

The court decided that “unless satisfactory assurances are provided, the court will grant leave to appeal on those grounds.”

Mr. Assange did not appear in the courtroom, despite having been granted rare permission to do so for the first time since 2021. His lawyers told the court that he was not well enough to attend or even to attend via video link from prison.

At a news briefing in February, Ms. Assange had said that her husband’s legal team would “definitely and immediately file an application” with the European Court of Human Rights if blocked from further appeals in Britain, and that he would ask for an “injunction to stop the U.K. from extraditing him.”

— Megan Specia reports on Britain, Ireland and the Ukraine war for The Times. She is based in London.

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tilos-tagebuch · 2 months

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Julian Assange's prison cell, in Belmarsh, was recreated. 6 m2. With original noise backdrop.

About 5 years to live in it. This alone is torture. His crime: Expose war criminals and their war crimes. Speechless.

All Credits: https://www.manjamccade.de/belmarsh-live-project

#germany #united kingdom #belmarsh #julian assange #free speech #war crimes #wikileaks #no extradition

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seachranaidhe · 1 year

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🇬🇧🇺🇸 NEW: ‘The UK executive is wining and dining with people plotting the assassination of my husband’ #FreeJulianAssangeNow

@Stella_Assange, wife of the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder, sits down with Declassified’s @kennardmatt for her most candid interview yet.👇(2) 👉 Stella on British media: “If the UK press had reported fairly and critically about this case, would Julian be in Belmarsh prison today? I don’t believe so.”👉 Stella on US extradition: “I’m convinced Julian cannot survive under the conditions the US will…

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#Belmarsh prison #British media #Julian Assange #Julian will not survive #Stella Assange #UK Executive #US extradition #USA and UK crimes against humanity in the Middle East #WikiLeaks founder

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