By SudOuest.fr with AFP
The High Court in London on Friday overturned the refusal to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who Washington wants to try for a massive leak of documents, to the United States.
The Court “allows the appeal” brought by the United States, said Judge Tim Holroyde, which means that the court overturns the first instance decision and that the British courts will have to rule again on the American extradition request .
The senior British magistrates are thus reversing the initial decision of Judge Vanessa Baraitser, who nearly a year ago opposed the handing over to the American authorities of the 50-year-old Australian, citing the risk of suicide of the founder of WikiLeaks.
In its ruling on Friday, the court found that the United States had provided assurances on the treatment that would be reserved for the founder of WikiLeaks in the event of extradition, thereby responding to the concerns of the trial judge.
“A serious miscarriage of justice”, according to his partner
The companion of Julian Assange, Stella Moris, immediately denounced a “serious miscarriage of justice”, in a statement transmitted by WikiLeaks.
The United States accuses Julian Assange of having released, as of 2010, more than 700,000 classified documents on American military and diplomatic activities, in particular in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prosecuted in particular for espionage, he faces up to 175 years in prison in a case which, according to his supporters, represents an extremely serious attack on press freedom.
Incarcerated in a high security prison near London, Julian Assange was arrested by British police in April 2019 after spending seven years in the London Embassy in Ecuador where he had taken refuge while he was at large under caution.
He feared then an extradition to the United States, or Sweden where he was the subject of charges for rape since abandoned.
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