Julian Assange likely to be extradited to US as UK Hight Court overturns blocked verdict

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will be extradited to the United States as a UK High Court judge concluded on Friday. The verdict overturns an earlier decision by the Westminster Magistrate Court, which had halted the extradition order owing to concerns about Assange's mental health and conditions in US jails. The decision of the appellate court on Friday will almost certainly be challenged.

Earlier this year, a lower court judge denied an American plea to extradite Assange to the United States to face spying charges stemming from the publishing of secret military papers by Wikileaks a decade ago, according to AP. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser dismissed extradition on health grounds, claiming that Assange would likely commit suicide if imprisoned in the United States.

'No history of serious and chronic mental illness'

The lawyer, James Lewis, stated that Assange had no history of serious and chronic mental illness and does not fulfil the criteria for being so unwell that he cannot resist killing himself. The US government also argued that Assange is well enough to be extradited, with Lewis telling the court that his mental illness doesn't even come close to being serious enough to preclude him from being transferred overseas, according to PA Media.

Earlier, US authorities stated that if British courts agree to extradite Assange, he will serve any US prison sentence in his native Australia. According to AP News, prosecutors in the United States have charged Assange with 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer misuse in connection with Wikileaks' release of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents. The charges carry a potential term of 175 years in prison.

Assange detained in Belmarsh Prison since 2019

Assange also claims that at observation in London, he has faced a "dangerous, menacing, and frightening" situation. According to PA Media, Edward Fitzgerald, who specialises in criminal law stated that the judge issued a well thought and fully reasoned conclusion. 50-year-old Assange is presently being imprisoned at London's high-security Belmarsh Prison. He has been detained in Belmarsh Prison since 2019, after being carried out of the Ecuadorian embassy by police.

(Inputs from AP)

(Image: AP)