WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange launches last-ditch UK appeal against U.S. extradition

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange launched a final UK legal challenge on Tuesday to prevent his extradition to the U.S. on spying charges.

At the start of what could be his last chance to stop his extradition from Britain to the United States at London's High Court, Assange's lawyers and wife said the case was politically motivated and an attack on all journalists.

U.S. prosecutors are seeking to put Assange, 52, on trial on 18 counts relating to WikiLeaks' high-profile release of vast troves of confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables. They argue the leaks imperiled the lives of their agents and there is no excuse for his criminality.

Assange did not appear in court and did not make a video connection. Assange's lawyer told the judge that he was too unwell to attend the hearing that day. 

His lawyer Edward Fitzgerald said there was a risk that Assange will suffer "a flagrant denial of justice" if he is sent to the United States.

The Australian's legal battles began in 2010, and he subsequently spent seven years holed up in Ecuador's embassy in London before he was dragged out and jailed in 2019 for breaching bail conditions.

He has been held in a maximum-security jail in London ever since, even getting married there, while Britain finally approved his extradition to the U.S. in 2022. In July of the same year, Assange appealed to the British High Court.

His legal team is trying to overturn that approval at a two-day hearing. Their argument is that previous judges failed to address their case that the extradition was politically-motivated and a deliberate attempt to punish and silence him for exposing U.S. "state-level crimes."

If Assange wins this case, a full appeal hearing will be held to again consider his challenge. If he loses, his only remaining option would be at the European Court of Human Rights and his wife said Assange's lawyers would apply to the European judges for an emergency injunction if necessary.

Assange founded the website WikiLeaks in 2006. It came to prominence in 2010 when the site published a trove of diplomatic cables and classified U.S. military documents from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, exposing U.S. war crimes.

Hundreds of Assange supporters from all over the world have demonstrated in front of London's High Court on Tuesday, demanding a fair verdict, condemning the U.S. request for Assange's extradition, and calling for his release.

"Assange has not committed a crime, but the United States will be embarrassed...We will continue to fight until Assange is released because he represents freedom of the press. We have the right to know the truth and without Assange we will never know the truth," Elsa, one of the protesters told China Media Group.

(With input from agencies)

(Cover: A demonstrator holds a placard picturing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during a protest outside of Britain's High Court, in London, UK, February 20, 2024. /CFP)