‘No prospect for fair trial in US’, Assange’s wife says as he fights extradition — RT World News
The WikiLeaks founder, wanted by Washington, may exhaust his legal options in the UK on Tuesday
Two British judges are deliberating on Tuesday whether to give WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a new opportunity to respond to an American request to extradite him to stand trial on espionage charges. His wife, Stella, said the man was being targeted for exposing Western criminality.
Assange faces up to 175 years in prison if he is transferred to US custody on charges of helping whistleblower Chelsea Manning steal confidential documents. His supporters say he fell victim to the publication of leaked materials that were insulting to the United States and its allies by WikiLeaks.
“We have to be clear about who the criminals are. Just because they use the judicial system to imprison him, it does not mean that justice or the law – international law – is on their side.” Stella Assange told a group of journalists in Italy, Monday, while accepting a journalism award on behalf of her husband.
Stella said the Assange trial had already had a chilling effect on journalism in the West, because it demonstrated that under a liberal democracy, a publisher could face consequences for telling inconvenient truths.
If extradited to the United States, “There is no possibility of a fair trial or that Julian will be safe in that country.” I warned. This also means that the media is subject to this type of treatment, and “There's no coming back from this.”
Assange has been detained in Belmarsh maximum security prison in the United Kingdom since 2019. He was charged in a Northern Virginia court under the US Espionage Act, which does not allow for a public interest defense, a month after his arrest.
According to his wife. “Administrative excuses are being used to treat Julian in a cruel and unusual manner.” In the United Kingdom, which is evidence of the political nature of his case. In this regard, she said that Britain is a partner in his persecution.
Britain agreed to extradite Assange in 2022. His defense team has lost one appeal since then. If the London High Court rules against him again, there will be no legal recourse for the British regime. If this happens, he intends to seek intervention by the European Court of Human Rights.
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