The defense of the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assangesaid this Tuesday that his client cannot be delivered to USA because “the crimes with which it (that country) is accused are of a political nature”, which would violate the British-American Extradition Treaty of 2003.
Lawyer Edward Fitzgerald He argued before the High Court in London that handing him over would be “an abuse of process”, as well as a violation of his rights to a fair trial and freedom of expression, among others.
The lawyer listed his objections in a hearing before that court, from which he asks permission to present a complete appeal – in a new trial – on several aspects of the case that he did not appeal previously and also against the extradition order signed in 2022 by the then minister inland, Come on Patelwhose legal basis he questions.
The British Prosecutor’s Office, representing the US Justice Department, requests that authorization to appeal be denied and that he be handed over, arguing that the accused committed crimes by disseminating secret information from the US Government in 2010 and 2011. .
The two judges of the Superior Court must determine, after the hearings today, Tuesday and tomorrow, Wednesday, whether the arguments of Assange’s defense justify a new appeal or if extradition can instead proceed.
The lawyers of the Australian, who could not appear in person today due to health problems, although dozens of people were at the doors of the court asking that he not be extradited, pointed out that the discovery of a plot by the CIA to kidnap or kill his client when he was taking refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London (between 2012 and 2019) demonstrates the political motivation of the case.
«Extraditing Assange would mean handing him directly into the hands of the same people who conspired to murder him»said his legal team, who wants the judges to admit this plot as evidence.
The lawyers also accuse the US of violating the rights of the WikiLeaks founder by charging him with unprecedented charges with unpredictable penalties and stress that it is “the first time in US history that a publisher has been prosecuted for obtaining or publishing ( instead of leaking) state secrets.
“You are being prosecuted for engaging in the ordinary journalistic practice of obtaining and publishing classified information, information that is both true and of obvious and important public interest.”Fitzgerald said.
They also warn that Washington recognized that it could request that Assange not be given the same rights as a US citizen under the First Amendment of its Constitution – which guarantees freedom of expression – since he is an Australian national, which, They say, it would prevent a fair trial.
The defense also maintains that the jury in a possible trial in the US could be biased since, due to the location of the court, it would be chosen from among people personally or professionally related to US Government agencies.
The lawyers also fear that the country’s authorities could add charges ‘after the fact’ to their client, which would violate the principle of only allowing extradition for the crimes specified in the international arrest warrant.
After initially being arrested in 2010 for a case instigated by Sweden and now archived, Assange was arrested again in April 2019 at the request of the United States, which accused him of 18 crimes of espionage and computer intrusion due to the revelations on his website. .
During a protest outside the London court, Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton, said today that his health “is very delicate”, worsened by the isolation to which he is subjected in London’s high-security Belmarsh prison, where he is in preventive detention. EFE (I)
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