A British court decided on Monday that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal the decision that would have allowed the United States to extradite him.
Assange is now able to appeal his case to the U.K. Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court must agree to hear the case before moving forward. It is the latest move by Assange to avoid appearing in court over WikiLeaks‘s release of classified files.
“Today we won — but Julian continues to suffer — Julian must be freed,” Assange’s fiancee Stella Moris said in a statement outside of the courthouse on Monday.
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Julian Assange fiancee Stella Moris speaking outside court after todays victory: “Today we won – but Julian continues to suffer – Julian must be freed” @SkyNews #FreeAssangeNOW @stellamoris1 pic.twitter.com/mfUekaCZ6C
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 24, 2022
Lord Burnett, the lord chief justice, said that Assange’s case had raised legal questions over the circumstances about how judges interpreted U.S. assurances regarding a prisoner’s treatment in prison, reported the BBC.
A British judge had rejected the U.S.’s request for extradition in January 2021, claiming that Assange’s prison conditions would negatively affect his mental and physical health. That rejection was reversed in December 2021 after the Biden administration affirmed that it would abide by four conditions set by the judges regarding how Assange was to be treated in prison.
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Assange is wanted under the U.S. Espionage Act for the alleged leak of classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010. Assange is currently being held at Belmarsh Prison in London after British officials arrested him in 2019 in the Ecuadorian Embassy.
Assange’s supporters argue that WikiLeaks is a publisher and therefore protected by the First Amendment.
