Wikileaks boss: Assange could soon lose legal battle

According to his colleagues, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange could soon lose the legal battle against his extradition to the US, Wikileaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson told the German news agency in London on Monday.

The 51-year-old Australian is still awaiting a decision on an appeal his lawyers lodged with the London High Court last summer. The British government had previously agreed to the extradition requested by Washington. Assange intends to appeal this.

If an appeal is not allowed, it would be “outrageous”, according to Hrafnsson. In Assange’s case, however, “anything is possible,” said the Wikileaks boss.

There are other legal options, such as a request for review, an appeal to the Supreme Court or an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), but all of these can be exhausted “within weeks”. In addition, it is not certain whether the British government will follow a decision by the judges in Strasbourg.

The legal wrangling over Assange has been going on for years. The US justice wants to try him on charges of espionage. If convicted, he faces up to 175 years in prison.

Assange is accused of stealing and publishing secret materials from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan along with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, endangering the lives of US informants. Supporters see Assange as a journalist who exposed war crimes.

Assange has been held in Belmarsh Maximum Security Prison since his arrest in April 2019. Before that, he evaded law enforcement in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for years. The Australian government is now calling for an end to the prosecution of Assange.

(sda/dpa)