Should whistleblowers be in US custody?
Assange’s wife: If he is extradited, he will die
February 15, 2024, 7:28 p.m
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Next week, a London court will decide whether Wikileaks founder Assange should be extradited to the United States. The whistleblower’s wife warns that he could then be on a plane to the USA “within a few days”: If that really happens, his life would be in danger.
A few days before a potentially crucial court hearing for Julian Assange, the wife of the imprisoned founder of the disclosure platform Wikileaks warned of the consequences of her husband’s extradition to the USA. “If he is extradited, he will die,” Stella Assange told journalists in London, referring to his health. According to supporters of Assange, who has been imprisoned in Great Britain since 2019, the London High Court hearing on his extradition will take place on February 20th and 21st.
The court will review a judge’s earlier decision from last June. Assange had refused to appeal against his extradition. Now the final decision is to be made as to whether all legal remedies for the Wikileaks founder against his extradition have been exhausted in Great Britain – or whether he can continue to take action against it in the British courts. If the objection in London is rejected, the extradition proceedings against Assange would begin.
However, Assange’s supporters have announced that they will take this case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to have the extradition stayed. Great Britain is subject to the jurisdiction of the ECHR. However, the Court only orders such suspensions in exceptional cases. It is also questionable whether the British government would accept a corresponding decision by the ECHR. London is currently in a dispute with the Court after it blocked the government’s decision to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, Africa.
Assange’s wife said her husband’s physical and mental health was deteriorating, with every day in prison threatening his life. If his objection ultimately fails, he could be on a plane bound for the USA “within a few days”.
Assange was arrested by British police in 2019 after hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years to avoid extradition. Since then he has been held at Belmarsh maximum security prison in south-east London. Assange is accused of publishing around 700,000 confidential documents about US military and diplomatic activities, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan, starting in 2010. If convicted, the 52-year-old Australian could face decades in prison. The British government agreed to his extradition in June 2022, but Assange lodged an objection.