Julian Assange could receive a sentence of 175 years in prison. photo by Reuters.
London on Friday approved the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. To the United Stateswhere he is accused of disclosing confidential documents and could receive a sentence of up to 175 years in prison.
“Under the 2003 extradition law, the minister will sign an ordinance if there is no reason to ban it,” said a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, confirming that Minister Priti Patel had signed the decree to transfer the journalist. , that You have 15 days to appeal this decision.
The WikiLeaks portal called it a “dark day for press freedom and British democracy” the UK decision.
“Anyone who cares about freedom of expression in this country should be deeply ashamed that the interior minister approved his extradition to the United States, the country that planned his assassination,” he said in a statement posted on social media.
In that text, WikiLeaks anticipated that it will appeal against the decision, which it can only do if the British High Court authorizes it, with the possibility of going to the European Court of Human Rights.
In April, British justice issued a formal order to hand over the founder of WikiLeaks to Washington, after a judicial saga that lasted several years, but It was up to the British Interior Minister, Priti Patel, to sign the decreesomething he did on Friday.
“Under the 2003 extradition law, the minister has to sign an extradition order if there is no reason to ban it,” a spokesman for the interior ministry said.
According to the spokesman, “the British courts they did not conclude that it was oppressive, unfair or a procedural abuse extradite Mr. Assange. They also did not conclude that extradition was incompatible with his rights, including the right to a fair trial, and with freedom of expression and (guaranteed) that during his stay in the United States he will be treated appropriately, including with respect to his health “.
The American accusation against Assange
The United States wants to try him for espionage and could sentence him to up to 175 years in prison if found guilty of the 2010 publication on WikiLeaks of some 700,000 US military and diplomatic documents secrets, especially about Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange was detained in London’s Belmarsh maximum security prison in 2019 after British police arrested him at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, once then-President Lenín Moreno withdrew the protection his predecessor had granted him. Rafael Correa. .
Violating the conditions of his probation in the UK, the founder of WikiLeaks took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape charges which were later withdrawn.
Denying these allegations, he has already said he feared everything was a strategy to hand him over to the United States.
Source: Clarin
