Who is Julian Assange? Here's all you need to know about the charges against him

The US has requested that Julian Assange be extradited to the United States so that he can face charges of espionage and computer misuse stemming from WikiLeaks' disclosure of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents. Julian Assange, a journalist from Australia and founder of WikiLeaks has been a lightning rod for both criticism and admiration since WikiLeaks began posting confidential material more than a decade ago. Some regard him as a reckless secret-spiller who put the lives of informers and others who assisted the US in conflict zones in jeopardy. While others claim that Wikileaks exposed official wrongdoing that governments intended to keep hidden. The United States has asked UK authorities to extradite Assange so that he can face trial on 17 counts of espionage and one count of computer misconduct stemming from Wikileaks' publishing of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents. 

Assange, 50, is presently detained in London's high-security Belmarsh Prison. He was ordered to remain in detention until the result of the extradition proceedings by the High Court.

Sweden imposed Rape & Sexual Assault charges on Assange in 2010

Since his arrest in April 2019 for jumping bail during a separate court struggle, Assange has been held in custody. He had been holed up within Ecuador's embassy in London for seven years before that. In 2012, Assange took refuge in the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he was accused of rape and sexual assault. In 2010, a Swedish woman named in the press as Miss A claimed that Assange tampered with a condom while having sexual intercourse with her during a visit to Stockholm. During the same visit, another woman, Miss W, accused him of similar abuse. Because so much time had passed, Sweden terminated the sex offences investigations in November 2019.

Moreover, district Judge Vanessa Baraitser denied the US plea to extradite Assange in January, stating that the Australian citizen was likely to commit suicide if kept in the harsh conditions of a US prison, according to various media reports. Later, US authorities assured Assange that he would not be subjected to the stringent conditions that his lawyers claimed would jeopardise his physical and mental health. A UK appeals court on Friday overturned a previous court ruling that Julian Assange's mental state was too frail to sustain incarceration in America, paving the way for his extradition to the United States on spying allegations.

US assures to treat Assange humanely

As Assange sought his freedom, and a way to avoid the Americans, both points of view have been contested. The United States' guarantees about Assange's incarceration, acquired after the lower court ruling, were enough to ensure he would be treated humanely, the High Court of London found. Assange's lawyers have stated that they will file an appeal. The High Court ordered the lower court judge to forward the extradition request to Home Secretary Priti Patel, who would decide whether or not to extradite Assange to the United States for trial.

According to the court, if Assange is convicted, he will not be sent to the "supermax" penitentiary in Florence, Colorado, which is the country's highest-security prison. They also promised that he would not be subjected to special administrative measures, such as segregation from other inmates and the loss of rights like visits, writing, and telephone use. They also stated that he would be able to serve any prison sentence in Australia, where he was born.

Charges against Assange contain maximum prison penalty of 175 years

According to American authorities, Assange illegally assisted Chelsea Manning, a US Army intelligence analyst, in stealing sensitive diplomatic cables and military data, which WikiLeaks eventually published, endangering lives. The charges against Assange contain a maximum prison penalty of 175 years, however, US attorneys have told British courts that the longest sentence ever imposed for such a crime was five years and three months.

Assange's lawyers say that their client should not have been charged because he was functioning as a journalist, which is protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees press freedom. They claim that the documents he released exposed US military misbehaviour in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Whereas, human rights activists claim that the US administration is attempting to silence its opponents. Despite the fact that the British High Court did not rule on the charges' merits, the extradition procedures have sparked a broader debate regarding Assange's predicament.

(With inputs from agencies)

Image: AP