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The decision to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the US is illegal because he is accused of ‘political offences,’ the High Court heard today.
The American government has accused Assange of conspiring with army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to leak classified military documents online between January and May 2010. Assange denies the claim.
The 52-year-old Australian faces up to 175 years in jail for espionage – meaning if he is extradited to the States and convicted, he would likely die behind bars.
Speaking in the High Court during the opening day of his appeal hearing, Assange’s barrister Edward Fitzgerald KC said his extradition for ‘purely political offences’ was illegal and that ‘the secretary of state should have refused to authorise extradition.’
He said the decision breached of Article Four of the 2003 Anglo-US extradition treaty, which, he said, prohibited extradition on political grounds.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange gestures from the window of a prison van as he is driven out of Southwark Crown Court in London on May 1, 2019
Assange’s wife Stella, joins supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange outside the Royal Courts of Justice
The Wikileaks founder is appearing in court for a two-day hearing which will determine whether he will be extradited to the US
Hundreds of protester were seen supporting Assange during a rally outside the High Court
‘The offences with which Mr Assange is charged are all ‘political offences’, extradition for which is squarely prohibited by the terms of Article 4(1) of the Treaty,’ the barrister told the High Court.
Mr Fitzgerald insisted it would be a ‘fundamental breach of Article 4 of the treaty to extradite him on that basis’, with Assange being prosecuted for an ‘ordinary journalistic practice’.
Assange was too ill to attend Tuesday’s hearing. However, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the court, with Assange’s wife, Stella, and brother Gabriel Shipton both giving impassioned speeches calling for his freedom.
The 52-year-old is seeking an appeal to a 2021 decision by a UK court to approve his extradition, having initially won his fight against being flown to America on the grounds he was likely to kill himself if held under harsh US prison conditions.
Lawyers representing the Australian also accused American authorities of attempting a ‘breathtaking’ plan to ‘to kill’ or kidnap Assange while he was sheltering in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
Mark Summers KC said the plot ‘only fell apart when the UK authorities weren’t very keen on the thought of rendition, or a shootout, in the streets of London’.
The barrister argued the US prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder was retribution for his political opinions – which he argued would make it unlawful to extradite him – and that there were ‘red flags’ everywhere in the case.
‘This is a paradigm example of state retaliation for the expression of political opinion,’ he told the court, adding: ‘The district judge did not address it, had she done so, it would have been fatal to her decision.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the court to show their support to the Wikileaks founder
Ms Assange spoke to protesters outside of court, having previously warned her husband ‘will die’ if he is extradited to America
Gabriel Shipton, Assange’s brother, was seen outside the High Court in London speaking to crowds on Tuesday
‘What the evidence now shows is that the US developed a plan to try to either kill or rendition Mr Assange to the USA.
‘What evidence the district judge heard on that came from protected witness two and it was truly breathtaking.’
The comment comes just days after Assange’s wife warned her husband ‘will die’ if he loses his appeal and is extradited to America.
‘The situation is extremely grave. He could be on a plane within days,’ Stella said, adding, ‘His health is in decline, mentally and physically. His life is at risk every single day he stays in prison, and if he’s extradited, he will die.’
Speaking to crowds of supporters today, Mrs Assange added: ‘We have two big days ahead. We don’t know what to expect, but you are here because the world is watching.
‘They have to know they can’t get away with this. Julian needs his freedom and we all need the truth.’
If he loses, Assange will have exhausted all UK appeals and will enter the extradition process, although his team have indicated they will appeal to European courts. No date has been given for this.
Mrs Assange said her husband will ask the European Court of Human Rights to temporarily halt the extradition if needed, warning he would die if sent to America.
Describing the case as a ‘legally unprecedented prosecution’, Mr Fitzgerald added Assange faced a ‘real risk he will suffer a flagrant denial of justice’ if he was extradited.
In written submissions, the barrister said if his client was extradited, he would face a trial with ‘tainted evidence’ and jurors who are ‘prejudiced irretrievably by public denunciations of him made by the President downwards’.
Judges were later told the original judge failed to consider the political nature of Assange’s actions, which should be protected.
Protesters from as far as Australia joined Tuesday’s demonstration outside the London court
Julian Assange, who faces espionage charges and up to 175 years in jail, pictured with his wife Stella
‘Mr Assange is being prosecuted “on account of”, in fact, prosecuted for, his exposure of alleged US government involvement in gross crimes of universal jurisdiction,’ Mr Fitzgerald added.
‘Her judgment simply fails to address this issue. Her decision was manifestly deficient and, because there is no answer to this issue, manifestly wrong.’
Outside court, hundreds of activists were seen waving Australian flags, holding placards with the words ‘Free Julian Assange’ and ‘drop the charges’, and chanting ‘there is only one decision – no extradition’ and ‘US, UK, hands off Assange’.
Thanking campaigners, Mrs Assange added: ‘Please keep on showing up, be there for Julian and for us, until Julian is free.’
Assange’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 southeast London ever since, even getting married there.
Britain finally approved his extradition to America in 2022 after a judge initially blocked it because concerns about his mental health meant he would be at risk of suicide if deported.
Dozens of protesters carrying placards and gold ribbons marched on the Royal Courts of Justice
His lawyers will try to overturn that approval at a two-day hearing in front of two judges in what could be his last chance to stop his extradition in the English courts.
They will argue that Assange’s prosecution is politically motivated and marks an attack on free speech, as the first time a publisher has been charged under the U.S. Espionage Act.
In court, Mr Fitzgerald KC argued: ‘He is being prosecuted for engaging in ordinary journalistic practice of obtaining and publishing classified information, information that is both true and of obvious and important public interest.’
Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton and father John Shipton were also seen outside court ahead of today’s hearing, with Gabriel speaking to protesters.
Gabriel added his brother was ‘suffering’ from poor health, telling TalkTV: ‘He is going through immense amount of suffering. He is deteriorating. His health is in a very delicate position. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.’
During Tuesday’s hearing, lawyers for Julian Assange also asked for the green light to appeal against then-home secretary Priti Patel’s decision to approve his extradition in June 2022.
Father of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, John Shipton arrives at the High Court in London
Campaigners showing their support massed outside the court in their dozens with posters
In written submissions, Mr Fitzgerald KC, for Assange, said that under the Extradition Act, Ms Patel had the power to refuse to approve the extradition.
He said: ‘It is respectfully submitted that it is, at lowest, arguable that the act does not operate in this manner, and specifically does not preclude the secretary of state from halting an extradition which is patently prohibited by the treaty.’
He continued: ‘It is a stark proposition, unsupported by authority, that the secretary of state is bound by law to give effect to an extradition request which she knows to be prohibited by international law.’
Judges also heard arguments about the ‘motivations’ by US authorities seeking to prosecute the Wikileaks founder.
In written submissions, Mr Summers and Edward Fitzgerald KC, for Assange, added: ‘The evidence showed that the US was prepared to go to any lengths, including misusing its own criminal justice system, to sustain impunity for US officials in respect of the torture/war crimes committed in its infamous ‘war on terror’, and to suppress those actors and courts willing and prepared to try to bring those crimes to account.
‘Mr Assange was one of those targets.’
Earlier, politicians from the UK and South Africa spoke out in support of Mr Assange. Among those to give speeches during the rally included former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, Apsana Begum MP, Richard Burgon MP, and Andrew Feinstein (right), a former Member of the National Assembly of South Africa.
Protests were also staged outside the American embassy in Berlin, Germany, and by journalists in Croatia.
Mrs Assange spoke to crowds outside the High Court for the first day of her husband hearing
GERMANY: People hold placards saying ‘Freiheit’ (freedom) in German, as supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stand near the U.S. Embassy in Berlin
CROATIA: Journalists stage a protest in the Croatian city of Zagreb on Tuesday
LONDON: Campaigns pictured during their rally outside the High Court on Tuesday
Apsana Begum MP (left) addresses the protest at High Court. Andrew Feinstein (right), a former Member of the National Assembly of South Africa, also spoke to protesters
Other campaigners travelled from across the globe to London to show their support. Jodie Asard flew from Adelaide, Australia, with her son to support Assange’s appeal case.
Ms Asard said: ‘We’ve come over from Australia to stand with our brothers and sisters here and to represent Australia and to make sure that the Australian Government knows that 88 per cent of Australians want Julian Assange free and to be brought home.
‘It’s probably the trial of the century to be honest in regards to free speech, free press and our right to know, so that’s why I’m here to stand with Julian and all these people here to call for him to be completely, safely released.’
Ms Asard added that the way Assange had been kept in a ‘three-by-two metre cell’ in Belmarsh prison was ‘criminal’.
‘He is being abused, in my opinion, institutionally abused by our Western governments,’ she added.
A speaker on a stage outside the court welcomed protesters to the ‘most important freedom of speech case in the 21st century’.
He was greeted with cheers and claps from the crowd of protesters.
Tim Dawson, deputy general secretary at the International Federation of Journalists, then took to the stage.
He said: ‘Be under no illusions, if this prosecution is successful, other vital cases will never come to light.’
Stella Assange is surrounded by protesters ahead of her husband’s court case in London
One of the posters by a support is pictured outside the court on Tuesday morning
On a stage Mrs Assange (pictured centre) thanked protesters and said: ‘Please keep on showing up, be there for Julian and for us, until Julian is free.’
‘Free Julian Assange, support journalism and safeguard free speech,’ he finished, to claps and cheers from the audience.
Protesters chanted ‘UK, US shame on you’ as MP for Poplar and Limehouse, Apsana Begum took to the stage outside the Royal Courts of Justice.
‘This case is about people and their power, versus the state and its imperialism,’ she said.
‘Ultimately it is about seeking justice in an all-too-often unjust world. Solidarity,’ Ms Begum finished.
Craig Murray, a former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, said if Assange’s appeal was not granted, it would be an ‘attack on the freedom to know, an attack on the rights of every single person here and every single person around the globe’.
‘I have lost all faith in the independence of the judicial system,’ Mr Murray said.
During a briefing with reporters last week ahead of her husband’s appeal, Ms Assange said the case was ‘politically motivated’ and violates the UK-US extradition treaty which prohibits extradition for political reasons.
Activists were seen waving Australian flags, holding placards with the words ‘Free Julian Assange’ and ‘drop the charges’
Campaigners hold their posters outside the court ahead of Assange’s two-day hearing
Activists were seen waving Australian flags, holding placards with the words ‘Free Julian Assange’ and ‘drop the charges’
She said the ‘bogus extradition request’ would have been thrown out by the UK authorities if it was made by any country other than the US, adding she had learnt ‘not to be optimistic’ over his case.
‘Julian should never have been put in prison in the first place,’ she added.
The couple have two children together and married in March 2022 in Belmarsh.
Ms Assange, who cried during the briefing, said her husband was ‘isolated’ in prison and spends more than 22 hours a day in confinement.
‘I am very concerned about how he’s doing. Physically, he’s aged prematurely,’ she added.
‘Julian will be put in a hole if he is extradited, there is no doubt about that. He will be put in a hole so far and deep in the ground that I don’t think I’ll ever see him again.’
Ms Assange said: ‘The situation is extremely grave. He could be on a plane within days’
If his appeal is unsuccessful, Ms Assange said her husband would apply to the European Court of Human Rights for a Rule 39 order to stop extradition while it considers his case.
Assange’s campaign against extradition is supported by human rights and journalistic organisations across the world.
At the briefing at the Royal Over-Seas League, WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said the extradition would set a precedent that has ‘dark and serious implications for press freedom all around the world’.
The Icelandic investigative journalist said: ‘We are seeing a critical attack on press freedom worldwide. It is like a disease – an anti-press pandemic creeping up on us that has been incrementally taking shape over the years.
‘And in that sense Julian Assange has been canary in the coal mine.’
Rebecca Vincent, director of campaigns at Reporters Without Borders, said there had been a lot of ‘unhelpful noise’ and ‘misconceptions’ surrounding the case.
She said: ‘We defend Julian Assange because of his contributions to journalism.
‘We believe this case has a lot of implications for journalism and press freedom around the world.’
Ms Vincent said the US espionage act lacks a ‘public interest defence’ and could be applied to ‘anyone publishing stories based on leaked documents’.
Assange is wanted in the US over an alleged conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information following the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. He denies any wrongdoing.
In a January 2021 ruling, then-district judge Vanessa Baraitser said he should not be sent to the US, citing a real and ‘oppressive’ risk of suicide, while ruling against him on all other issues.
US authorities brought a successful High Court challenge against this decision, paving the way for extradition.
In June last year, Assange lost his appeal against a judge’s ruling over whether he should be extradited but make his final appeal in the High Court this week.
Assange’s court hearing will continue on Wednesday.
