WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange allowed to appeal extradition to United States, High Court says

Julian Assange has won the first stage of an appeal against the decision to extradite him to the United States, bringing his appeal to the Supreme Court.

Assange, 50, is wanted in America over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information, following WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars more than a decade ago.

In December last year, US authorities won their High Court challenge to overturn a ruling that Assange should not be extradited due to a real and “oppressive” risk of suicide.

Assange’s fiancée Stella Moris hailed the High Court ruling as “precisely what we wanted to happen.”

“The High Court certified that we had raised a point of law of general public importance and that the Supreme Court has good grounds to hear this appeal,” she said in a statement outside the court on Monday. “The situation now is that the Supreme Court has to decide whether it will hear the appeal, but make no mistake, we won today in court.”

For a proposed appeal to be considered by the UK’s highest court, a case has to raise a point of law of “general public importance”.

WikiLeaks editor Kristinn Hrafnsson hailed Monday’s ruling as a “partial victory”, calling the US charges against Assange were “a blatant terrorist attack on press freedom worldwide.”

Crowds gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London and welcomed the decision.  “I’m relieved beyond words,” said Sue Barnett, 61, from Nottingham, central England, holding a placard stating: “10 years enough. Free Assange now.”

Assange could be jailed for up to 175 years in the United States, although the exact sentence is difficult to calculate at this stage.