A British court ruled on Monday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal his extradition to the U.S. on espionage charges, marking the latest chapter in his years-long legal battle.
The London ruling came after Assange’s lawyers argued that the U.S. provided “blatantly inadequate” assurances for free-speech protections if their client were to be extradited, the Associated Press reported. If convicted on all charges, the self-proclaimed journalist could face up to 175 years in prison.
Assange faces a total of 18 criminal counts, comprised of 17 espionage charges and one for conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, after he published classified U.S. documents on WikiLeaks in 2010. Among the trove of documents that were revealed to the public were footage of a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad, military logs from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and diplomatic cables.
Assange and his lawyers have argued his actions were protected by the First Amendment and done in the public interest. On the other hand, prosecutors have claimed the leaks harmed U.S. national security and endangered the lives of American agents.
Assange’s supporters celebrated the news that the Australian computer expert can now appeal his U.S. extradition order. His wife, Stella, said the “shameful” case “is taking an enormous toll on Julian.”
In March, the same U.K. court provisionally ruled that Assange could appeal his extradition unless the U.S. government provided adequate assurances that he would get the same First Amendment rights as an American citizen and would not be subject to the death penalty. During the Monday hearing, Assange’s attorneys said they were satisfied with the U.S.’s assurances about the death penalty but not the free-speech protections, saying the defendant deserved better.
Federal prosecutors, however, argued that Assange’s actions were “simply unprotected” by the First Amendment.
“No one, neither U.S. citizens nor foreign citizens, are entitled to rely on the First Amendment in relation to publication of illegally obtained national defense information giving the names of innocent sources, to their grave and imminent risk of harm,” said U.S. attorney James Lewis.
Assange was arrested in 2019 after spending the previous seven years inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He has since spent the past five years in a British high-security prison. His supporters continue advocating for his wellbeing, as the 52-year-old has suffered physical and mental stress since confining himself to the embassy between 2012 and 2019. Ecuador eventually kicked him out, leading to his arrest.
Last month, President Joe Biden said he was “considering” Australia’s request to drop the case entirely and let Assange return to his home country instead of getting sent to the U.S. In February, the Australian parliament passed a motion calling for Assange to be allowed to return to Australia.
In response to Biden’s statement on the motion, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said the comment was “encouraging.”
“I believe this must be brought to a conclusion and that Mr. Assange has already paid a significant price and enough is enough,” Albanese said in April. “There’s nothing to be gained by Mr. Assange’s continued incarceration, in my very strong view. And I’ve put that as the view of the Australian government.”