The High Court in London has granted Julian Assange the right to appeal his extradition the United States, prompting fresh hopes for his freedom.
‘ARTICLE 19 welcomes this decision and now sends a clear message to the United States: drop the charges against Julian Assange and protect press freedom,’ said Quinn McKew, Executive Director for ARTICLE 19. ‘We have repeatedly raised concerns about criminal investigations into Assange and Wikileaks, and pointed out that his extradition would criminalise journalism and have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.’
The High Court decision means the publisher and journalist is able to challenge US assurances about the conduct of a prospective trial, and about whether his right to free speech would be violated.
Assange faces 17 charges under the US Espionage Act for publishing more that 250,000 classified documents on the Wikileaks website in 2010, plus an additional charge on computer crimes. Assange and his legal team have argued the documents exposed evidence that the US army committed human rights violations in Afghanistan and Iraq and are protected speech under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.