UK court to rule on U.S. appeal to extradite Julian Assange

Record ID: 1650646

  • Title: UK court to rule on U.S. appeal to extradite Julian Assange
  • Date: 9th December 2021
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - AUGUST 19, 2012) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CROWD OF ASSANGE SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE ECUADOR EMBASSY, WHERE ASSANGE SOUGHT REFUGE WHILE APPLYING FOR ASYLUM ASSANGE ADDRESSING CROWD FROM BALCONY (SOUNDBITE) (English) WIKILEAKS FOUNDER, JULIAN ASSANGE, SAYING: "As WikiLeaks stands under threat so does the freedom of expression and the health of all our societies." EXTERIOR OF HARRODS STORE WITH CROWD OF POLICE, SUPPORTERS AND MEDIA OUTSIDE / POLICE IN FRONT OF EMBASSY AND ASSANGE ADDRESSING CROWD FROM BALCONY ASSANGE GIVING HOLDING THUMBS UP SUPPORTERS APPLAUDING LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - DECEMBER 20, 2012) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) ASSANGE ON ECUADOR EMBASSY BALCONY RAISING FIST IN AIR, SAYING (English): "Good evening London" MEDIA, POLICE AND SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE EMBASSY, HARRODS STORE LIT UP WITH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS IN BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) WIKILEAKS FOUNDER, JULIAN ASSANGE, SAYING: "Next year will be equally busy. WikiLeaks has already over a million documents being prepared to be released; documents that affect every country in the world." MEMBERS OF MEDIA BEHIND BARRIERS SUPPORTERS HOLDING PLACARDS AND CANDLES, PLACARD READING (English): "Don't shoot the messenger" ASSANGE WAVING AND WALKING BACK INSIDE EMBASSY LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - JUNE 19, 2013) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ECUADOR EMBASSY VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICER ON DUTY AT ENTRANCE TO EMBASSY
  • Embargoed: 23rd December 2021 19:20
  • Keywords: Ecuadorian embassy Julian Assange London United States Wikileaks founder appeal arrest warrant extradition hearing
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00JF7C0F2F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
    EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS PROFANE LANGUAGE
    A UK court on Friday (December 10) is expected to hand down a decision on a U.S. appeal against a ruling that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited.
    The 50-year-old Australian is wanted in the United States to face trial on 18 charges including breaking an espionage law, after WikiLeaks published thousands of secret U.S. files and diplomatic cables in 2010.
    Assange, who denies any wrongdoing, is being held at Belmarsh Prison.
    The United States Government is appealing against a Jan. 4 ruling by a British judge that Assange should not be extradited because his mental health was such that he would likely commit suicide in a U.S. prison.
    U.S. prosecutors and Western security officials regard Assange as a reckless enemy of the state whose actions threatened the lives of agents named in the leaked material.
    Supporters pit him as an anti-establishment hero who exposed U.S. wrongdoing in Afghanistan and Iraq, and say his prosecution is a politically-motivated assault on journalism that gives a free pass to oppressive regimes around the world.
    WikiLeaks came to prominence when it published a U.S. military video in 2010 showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters news staff.
    An effort to extradite him was launched in 2019 after he was detained in London after taking refuge in Ecuador's embassy in the British capital for seven years to avoid being extradited to Sweden.
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