A judge in London is set to decide on Monday whether Britain should extradite Julian Assange to the United States, where the founder of WikiLeaks is facing charges of conspiracy to hijack government computers and violate the law on espionage through confidential documents in 2010 and 2011 to obtain and release.
A decision in favor of the US extradition request could pave the way for a high-profile trial. Assange has been trying to avoid it for years, and which he says poses a dangerous threat to press freedom. Assange is sentenced to 175 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
If Judge Vanessa Baraitser rejects the extradition request, it would give Assange a major victory at a time when recent US governments have increasingly used the Espionage Act against the sources of journalists.
This is what you need to know about the decision.
What are the possible outcomes?
Judge Baraitser will not rule on whether Mr. Assange is not guilty of misconduct, but she will decide whether the US extradition request meets the requirements set out in 2003 with an extradition treaty with Britain, namely that the alleged crime for which Mr. Assange wanted, could also have led to trial in Britain, had he done so there.
If Judge Baraitser rules in favor of extradition, the case will go to the British Secretary of State, who will make the final decision on extradition. And that would be a politically delicate choice: Mr. Assange is such a high profile and the charges he faces in the United States are so serious that a decision by the British authorities will have long-term consequences.
But before appeals move to the Home Secretary, it will likely keep the case in the courts for months. And if Mr. Should Assange lose, his legal team could also try to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. If he were to win on appeal, he could be released.
Elected President Joseph R. Biden Jr. can play a critical role in determining the fate of Mr. Assange. “If the British judge rules in favor of an extradition, and the US can extradite, it will probably be up to the new president to decide whether the government should continue with the prosecution,” said Carl Tobias, a professor said. rights to the University of Richmond.
As vice president, Mr. Biden called the founder of WikiLeaks a “high-tech terrorist” in 2010, but it remains unclear what he would do as president. Mr. Biden can mr. Assange forgives, or the Department of Justice can drop the charges against him or continue with the prosecution.
The calls to President Trump for Mr. Assange forgiveness has also grown over the past few weeks as Mr. Trump issued a wave of pardons and commutations before his term ended.
Britain has rejected several extradition requests from the United States in recent years. In 2012, it refused to extradite Gary McKinnon, a British hacker who broke into US government computers in 2002 on the grounds that he was too ill. In 2018, a ruling by the Supreme Court also blocked the extradition of Lauri Love, who is accused of breaking into U.S. government websites.
What’s at stake with the verdict and any US trial?
A verdict in favor of extradition can be given to Mr. Assange subject to life imprisonment.
The US government considers Mr. Assange as an individual who endangered lives by revealing the names of U.S. personnel and informants who provided valuable information in dangerous places such as war zones.
“Reporting or journalism is not an excuse for criminal activity or a license to violate ordinary criminal law,” James Lewis, a lawyer representing the US government, told the British court last year.
But news organizations and real groups say the charges against Mr. Assange faces a serious threat to press freedom.
“The future of journalism and press freedom is at stake here,” said Rebecca Vincent, London’s director of international campaigns at Reporters Without Borders.
“If the US government succeeds in obtaining the extradition of Mr Assange and prosecuting him in the US, it could prosecute any journalist and news organizations under similar charges,” she said. Vincent added.
Greg Barns, an Australian lawyer and adviser to Mr. Assange, said: “The biggest risk for him in the US is that he will not get a fair trial.” Mr Barns added: “He was able to spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement, treated in a cruel and arbitrary manner.”
Why is Mr. Assange in a British prison?
In 2012, Mr. Assange enters the Ecuadorian embassy in London to escape an extradition request from Sweden, where he faces charges of rape. He spent seven years in the embassy, but was arrested by British police in 2019 and later sentenced to 50 weeks in prison for skipping bail when he entered the embassy.
The charges in Sweden were dismissed and Mr. Assange completed his 50-week sentence. He is not accused of any crime outside the United States, but he remains in the Belmarsh prison in London while Britain decides on his extradition. His bail applications were rejected.
Several doctors said Assange was suffering from depression and memory loss and could try to commit suicide if he was extradited.
Nils Melzer, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture and Abuse, Assange investigated in prison, said last year that his incarceration amounted to ‘psychological torture’.
“I can testify to the fact that his health has seriously deteriorated, to the point where his life is now in danger,” he said. Melzer said last month when he requested Trump to marry Mr. To forgive Assange.
Why is Mr. Looking for Assange in the United States?
Mr. Assange, 49, is charged in 2019 with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act for obtaining and publishing secret military and diplomatic documents. He was later charged with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Assange’s promotion of government transparency made him a hero to many, but he was also criticized as a publicity seeker with a fickle personality.
The publication of the material exposed various crimes and wrongdoings committed by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, and rights groups praised their release as valuable information to the public. Right-wing groups such as Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International have called for all charges to be dropped.
“The activities that Julian Assange is participating in are activities that journalists are participating in all the time,” said Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s expert on terrorism and criminal justice in Europe. “We have no information without it.”
What happened during the extradition hearings?
The hearings were delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and technical errors that, according to rights groups, hampered their ability to monitor it.
According to observers, Mr. Assange appeared in a glass box in February where he could not hear properly. In September, after an eruption of Mr. Assange, the judge warned that he would be removed from the courtroom if he continued to interrupt prosecutors. Mr. Lewis, who is representing the US government, argued that Assange was being extradited for publishing names of informants, not for handling leaked documents.
In their closing remarks, advocates for Mr. Assange argues that allegations of espionage are a political offense and that extradition on the basis of a political offense is prohibited by the extradition treaty between Britain and the United States.
Asked if he would consent to extradition to the United States, Mr. Assange replied, “No.”