May 19, 2024

US authorities win their latest bid to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

The 50-year-old Australian has been charged in the US under the Espionage Act for his role in publishing classified military and diplomatic cables.

Friday’s ruling overturns the ruling of a British judge in January that granting the US request to extradite Assange would be “oppressive” by reason of his mental health

Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled then that the “special administrative measures” Assange would most likely be held in would have a severe negative impact on his mental health.

Assange is wanted in the US on 18 criminal charges after WikiLeaks published thousands of classified files and diplomatic cables in 2010. He is being held at Belmarsh Prison in London. If convicted, he faces up to 175 years in prison.

Assange was arrested in April 2019 when British authorities entered the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he had been holed up for seven years, and took him into custody on a US extradition warrant.

This is a developing story — more to come.

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