U.K High Court allows Assange to move case to Supreme Court
The United Kingdom High Court granted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange permission to continue his legal battle against extradition to the Supreme Court. However, while the London court allowed him to appeal, it is up to the Supreme Court to accept the case.
Assange faces trial on a series of charges related to WikiLeaks’ publication of classified content. The material was posted more than ten years ago, nonetheless, U.S authorities wish to extradite Assange. The founder is currently in jail, as he attempts to avoid trial for the same.
Top-secret U.S military records and diplomatic documents were released into the public domain, a move which endangered lives, according the U.S government. Previously, a lower court ruled that Assange shouldn’t be put through extradition on account of his poor mental health. Risk of suicide was cited as one of the reasons. Albeit, the High Court overturned the ruling in December. It also refused direct appeal to the Supreme Court but stated that his case raised a matter of legal concern.
Assange is accused of committing 18 offences, 17 being espionage and the other being technological misuse. These crimes carry a sentence of maximum 175 years in prison. His lawyers, however, deny committing any wrong. They declare that under the First Amendment, Assange had the right to freedom of the press protections. The documents, in their opinion, outlined the wrong doings of the U.S government in Iraq and Afghanistan.
