Date set for court ruling on Assange extradition appeal

In a tweet on Friday, WikiLeaks said that the UK would be ruling on whether founder Julian Assange could appeal his extradition to the US. The High Court will deliver its decision on Monday.

“The UK High Court will deliver its decision on Monday morning [24 January] about whether to permit Julian Assange to appeal the US extradition decision to UK Supreme Court,” the tweet said.

“This could be the last chance to stop Julian Assange’s extradition to the US,” tweeted Rebecca Vincent, Director of International Campaigns at Reporters Without Borders, adding “whatever happens next, the UK also bears legal & moral responsibility.”

Assange, who faces charges of espionage in the US, spent years inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, before a new government in Quito revoked his asylum.

He was detained outside the embassy by British police in April 2019, and has since been held at the Belmarsh maximum-security prison. 

Assange’s fiancée Stella Moris claims his health has deteriorated considerably, and recently revealed that he had suffered a stroke last October.

In December, the UK high court ruled to allow his extradition to the US. If the extradition goes ahead, Assange will face espionage charges for publishing documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2010. A conviction could carry a 175-year prison sentence.