Julian Assange has limited leave to appeal his long-awaited extradition to the U.S. from the U.K. after a ruling by a British High Court this week. His presence to stand trial has been sought by American authorities since 2019 for publishing tens of thousands of classified documents.
These were obtained from Chelsea Manning in violation of the Espionage Act. The damages done to American interests by their reckless actions are well documented.
The court gave the U.S. until April 16 to grant “assurances” of several key factors in its prosecution of Assange. He must be afforded First Amendment rights, his nationality must not be used against him and the death penalty must not be on the table.
The Heritage Foundation reported that a government review determined that Assange’s actions caused several to lose their lives and more were placed in harm’s way. U.S. diplomatic relations suffered as a direct result of his blatant recklessness.
Enemy military forces shifted tactics due to intelligence revealed in the classified materials, causing difficulties for U.S. interests in determining threats posed by these nations.
Important intelligence sources were compromised and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars squandered in responding to the crisis created by his illegal acts.
🚨🌎 FREE JULIAN ASSANGE
The High UK Court has granted Wikileaks Julian Assange permission to appeal his extradition to the US for exposing their war crimes after being detained for 5 years.
Below his wife Stella Assange speaking obvious truths. pic.twitter.com/9urpNXOK3y
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) March 26, 2024
Assange spent the last five years in London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison while leftists called for his release. He will be there at least for the next three weeks as the U.S. responds to the court’s ruling.
His supporters claim he is a journalist and should be protected as such. They assert that he revealed missteps by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan and that the classified materials he posted online were in the public interest.
Assange’s wife Stella told reporters outside of the High Court in London that her husband “is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives.”
She rejected the call for assurance from the Biden administration and said the White House instead “should drop this shameful case.”
The U.S. government countered that Assange strayed far from the realm of journalism when he solicited, stole and published classified documents. These illegal acts led directly to lives being lost, Washington believes, including those assisting American forces in the Middle East.
