The case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has once again got in the spotlight recently. On Monday, December 13, a rally against his extradition to the United States was held in New York outside the British Consulate General. It was covered by an hour-long YouTube broadcast.
The rally participants expressed indignation over the ruling by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, which on December 10 complied with the appeal by the US Department of Justice regarding Assange's extradition to the United States. The protesters, among them Pink Floyd rock band founder Roger Waters, actress Susan Sarandon and other famous personalities, complained that the mainstream American and British media avoid covering events in support of Assange.
Now the case of the 50-year-old Australian will be returned to the Westminster Magistrates' Court, which previously ruled that the WikiLeaks founder, who suffers from autism and clinical depression, cannot be extradited to the United States because of the risk of his suicide. Moreover, the district judge should refer the case to the Minister of State, up to whom the final extradition decision is.
The defense party, we note, has the right to appeal against the Court of Appeal's ruling and is devising a follow-up strategy. Besides, Assange's fiancée Stella Morris promised to challenge the court's decision, calling it "dangerous and misguided," as well as a "grave miscarriage of justice." "How can it be fair, how can it be right, how can it be possible, to extradite Julian to the very country which plotted to kill him," Morris wondered. Apparently, Assange's fiancée was referring to a September Yahoo News publication that reported, citing sources, that back in 2017, a number of US administration and senior CIA officials discussed the possibility of kidnapping and even killing Assange. Such plans were allegedly part of an anti-WikiLeaks campaign.
Just a reminder: Julian Assange gained worldwide fame for revealing compromising evidence on American servicemen and officials. In particular, he uncovered numerous war crimes committed by US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, including civilian homicides and tortures in the US Cuba-based Guantanamo Bay military prison.
Since April 2019, Assange has been held in London's Belmarsh maximum security prison. He got here after the Ecuadorian embassy in London refused him asylum, which had been granted to him for seven years. In January this year, the Westminster Magistrates' Court refused to extradite Assange to the United States, where 18 criminal charges were brought against him fraught with up to 175 years in prison.
It is noteworthy that the London Court of Appeal issued its decision the same day as the "Summit for Democracy" convened by President Joe Biden was held in the United States, with its main motto being the struggle for freedom of speech and media independence. And this fact in itself has become blasphemous and travesty of the fundamental democratic principles so praised by the West, primarily the United States and Great Britain. And Julian Assange's case is a clear proof of this.
Not coincidentally did the Chinese Foreign Ministry say the other day that the case had demonstrated the United States' double standards regarding freedom of speech and the press. According to the department's official spokesman Wang Wenbin, it seems that everyone can enjoy these freedoms as long as he does not criticize the United States or until he tells about its crimes, otherwise he will also end up behind the bars like Assange.
Russia did not stand aside either. In particular, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said the following, referring the London Court of Appeal's ruling: "This is a shameful verdict in a political case against a journalist and public figure, another manifestation of the Anglo-Saxon alliance’s cannibalistic worldview."
It is fair to say that the United States has confirmed its guarantees that Assange will be provided with any medical or psychological assistance in case of extradition, that he won't be sent to a maximum-security penal colony or subjected to any special administrative measures, unless there are any additional offenses.
Who will guarantee proper conditions for Assange in the United States or non-use of torture? It is entirely possible that all the assurances by the American side will remain hollow promises, which has happened many times, by the way. This implies imminent death for Assange, with his state of health being quite alarming. As the journalist's fiancée Stella Morris stated in her recent interview with the Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, Assange had a mini-stroke at the October 27 hearing, which left him with a drooping right eyelid and memory problems. Doctors also found a delayed pupil response when a light was shone into his eye, which may indicate neurological damage. There are far too many risks to his life, the journalist's lawyers stated in this regard.
We note finally that the current circumstances only left the WikiLeaks founder with one option of appealing to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. There may be problems here, the BBC points out, as to make the case be considered, contradictions must be proved in the current laws that require intervention by the Supreme Court. Earlier, none of the parties had indicated any earlier. Let's not forget that London often meets its American colleagues halfway in matters of extradition, since the relevant treaty between the United States and Great Britain virtually provides for extraditing anyone and as one chooses. So Julian Assange remains in London's Belmarsh prison, with his fate being not completely clear...
