The London Court postpones the decision on Assange's extradition: the key is whether the crimes he committed are "political"

The High Court of London will decide as soon as possible, on an unspecified date, whether it authorizes Julian Assange to continue appealing in the United Kingdom or whether, instead, his extradition to the United States, approved by the British Government in 2022, can be activated.

Judges Victoria Sharp and Adam Johnson retired to deliberate after concluding two days of hearings this Wednesday in which the defense of the Australian, who was absent due to illness, and the British Prosecutor's Office, representing the American Justice, presented their arguments.

The US claims Assange for 18 crimes of espionage and computer intrusion for the revelations of his WikiLeaks portal, which in 2010 and 2011 exposed alleged war crimes of that country in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Assange's defense asked the court for permission to appeal aspects of the litigation that were not appealed in another process in 2021, as well as the extradition order signed in June 2022 by the then Minister of the Interior, Priti Patel.

If the magistrates agree to your demand, a new appeal trial will begin before the English Justice, which could last over time.

If she is denied, her surrender to the United States will be activated, in which case her lawyers have already said that they will request precautionary measures to detain her from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the opening of a process there.

Assange defends that they are “political crimes”

When listing the arguments that would support their potential appeal, Assange's lawyers, Edward Fitzgerald and Mark Summers, said that his surrender would violate the British-American Extradition Treaty as the alleged crimes were, in their opinion, of a political nature and against his freedom. of expression, in addition to potentially exposing him to the death penalty.

They also argued that he would not have a fair trial in the US since, due to the location of the court, the jury would be chosen from people linked to the Washington Administration.

USA: “Evidence-based criminal offenses”

Clair Dobbin, on behalf of the United States, asked the Superior to disallow the appeal and give the green light to the handover, arguing that it is legal because the charges against the former 'hacker' are not political but “criminal crimes based in tests”.

Dobbin said Assange is wanted for conspiring with former US soldier Bradley Manning (now Chelsea Manning) to illicitly obtain classified military information and disseminate it, endangering “numerous innocent US informants” in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Iran or Syria.