INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The British government on Friday ordered the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face spying charges, a
17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse.American prosecutors say the Australian citizen helped United States Army
intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal classified diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks later published, putting lives at
risk.To his supporters, Assange, 50, is a secrecy-busting journalist who exposed United States military wrongdoing in Iraq and
Afghanistan.A British court ruled in April that Assange could be sent to face trial in the United States , sending the case to the U.K
government for a decision
courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr
protections of freedom of speech
They argue that the case is politically motivated, that he would face inhumane treatment and be unable to get a fair trial in the United
Assange, a lawyer who married her husband in a prison ceremony in March, said the U.K
Supreme Court.A British district court judge initially rejected the extradition request on the grounds that Assange was likely to kill
himself if held under harsh United States prison conditions
ruling.Journalism organizations and human rights groups had called on Britain to refuse the extradition request
any sentence is likely to be much lower than that.Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said Friday that extraditing
International is extremely concerned that Assange faces a high risk of prolonged solitary confinement, which would violate the prohibition
arrested in 2019 for skipping bail during a separate legal battle
Before that, he spent seven years inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden to face allegations of rape and
sexual assault.Sweden dropped the sex crimes investigations in November 2019 because so much time had elapsed, but British judges have kept
Assange in prison pending the outcome of the extradition case.Source: Associated Press-Agencies
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://adaderana.lk
