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On Wednesday, April 20, a UK judge from Westminster Magistrates' Court issued an order for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be extradited to the US. The case has been sent to Britain's interior minister Priti Patel, who can now decide whether to extradite Assange or not.
While Patel needs to formally sign and greenlight Assange's extradition to the US, the Australian native can choose to appeal the final decision in the UK's high court. Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice has finally received a positive outcome of their constant appeal against the UK court's decision not to extradite the editor.
The new ruling comes after a local judge ruled on some conditions for Assange's extradition to the US. These conditions included the US government's assurances of the 50-year-old's safety and the decision not to execute him. Following the reported failure of the US government to come to an agreement, the judge revoked the extradition request. Later in December 2021, the high court disregarded the former's decision, citing that the US government had provided significant assurances.
A summary of Julian Assange's alleged criminal activities
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, faces multiple charges from the US government as he leaked thousands of sensitive documents from 2010 to 2011. The classified documents were reportedly provided to him by former US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning. Assange was charged with hacking government computers and the Espionage Act of 1917. Like US-native whistleblower Edward Snowden, Assange now faces up to 170 years in jail if he is tried in the USA.
WikiLeaks has been accused of leaking around 75,000 documents containing sensitive information about the US Army's involvement in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq. In April 2010, WikiLeaks made international headlines by leaking classified footage of two Apache helicopters involved in a series of airstrikes in Baghdad.
The July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike video, which was deemed classified, was titled Collateral Murder. It accused the army of shooting Reuters correspondents Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen.
During Assange's charge at WikiLeaks, the Australian-native leaked several such documents via his whistleblowing platform. During Barack Obama's administration, the organization could not provide much concrete proof of Julian Assange's involvement. However, under Trump's tenure, the then director of CIA, Mike Pompeo, focused on extraditing Assange to face trial in the USA. Meanwhile, Assange was also accused of s*xual assault by two women in Sweden in 2010.
Assange's political asylum
In 2012, Julian Assange requested political asylum from the Ecuadorian government. The WikiLeaks founder entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London in July 2019, following the release of his arrest warrant by the Swedish government. The Swedes have called off their investigation. However, it reopened after the Ecuadorian government evicted him and withdrew his political asylum.
Julian Assange is currently being held at Belmarsh prison in London. The WikiLeaks founder and editor has found legions of public followers through the years who campaign for his official pardon from the US authorities. However, if Assange is extradited, Sweden will likely not be able to charge the 50-year-old in the case of his involvement in the alleged s*xual assault.
