The two hearings to decide whether Julian Assange can appeal his case again in the United Kingdom or if he should instead be extradited to the United States began this Tuesday at the High Court in London.
In the midst of great public and press expectation, the judges Victoria Sharp and Adam Johnson They began the session, which will conclude on Wednesday, listening to the arguments of the 52-year-old Australian’s defense.
Assange could not personally attend the hearingdespite the fact that the court authorized it, because he was not feeling well, said his lawyer, Ed Fitzgerald.
The British Prosecutor’s Office will represent the American Justice, which claims the founder of WikiLeaks for 18 crimes of espionage and computer intrusion for the revelations on his portalwhich in 2010 and 2011 exposed US human rights violations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The session was interrupted shortly after it began by technical problems that prevented journalists from hearing what was happening in the room and were partially solved.
The argument of Assange’s defense to appeal again
Fitzgerald began his argument listing the reasons why your client should be able to appeal againconsidering that if he is handed over to the United States, his rights to a fair trial and freedom of expression, among others, will be violated.
“The accusation is politically motivated. Assange exposed a serious criminality. He is being prosecuted for carrying out an ordinary journalistic practice, of obtaining and publishing classified information, information that is both true and of obvious and important public interest“he argued.
At the request of the computer programmer’s defense, the two judges will review, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the decision made on June 6, 2023 by a single judge, Jonathan Swift, who denied him permission to continue appealing in this country and gave the extradition order to the US is good
After listening to the parties, the magistrates could give your ruling immediately or postpone it. If he is ultimately allowed to appeal the aspects of his case that the defense failed to address in previous trials, a trial would begin. new trial before the Court of Appeal Londoner. If, however, they agree with Swift in prohibiting it, the delivery mechanism to the USsupervised by the British Home Office.
In the second case, his lawyers have already said that they will immediately request urgent precautionary measures from the European Court of Human Resources (ECHR)under article 39 of its regulations, to stop the extradition, while they file an appeal before the European court.
