On Friday, the High Court of Justice in London approved extraditing Julian Assange to the United States. This appeal court returned the case of Assange's extradition to a lower court in Westminster, while the WikiLeaks founder remains incarcerated.
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According to the High Court, the United States offers sufficient guarantees that Assange will not be subjected to the harsh regime known as "special administrative measures" when in custody in the country. Assange's defense, however, still has the right to challenge the verdict by filing an appeal.
As soon as the judicial decision was known, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) expressed its rejection of the possibility of extraditing the Australian journalist to the United States.
"We condemn today’s UK High Court decision to allow the extradition of Julian Assange to the U.S., which will prove historic for all the wrong reasons. We fully believe that Julian Assange has been targeted for his contributions to journalism," RWB Secretary Christophe Deloire said, stressing that this case may have "dangerous consequences for the future of press freedom in the world."
"This decision is announced the day when the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to two journalists and when 111 governments are invited to the U.S.-led Summit for Democracy. There could not be a bigger symbol of contradiction," he added.
In statements to the press made outside the Court, lawyer Stella Morris, who is also fiancée of Julian Assange, highlighted that the judges' decision amounts to ratifying that the United States has the right to prosecute and confine journalists for revealing CIA activities and crimes against humanity.
"How can it be fair? How can it be right? How can it be possible to extradite Julian to the same country that planned to kill him?," she said.
On Sep. 26, CIA plans to assassinate Assange were uncovered in a bombshell report. The detailed investigation revealed that discussions of assassinating Julian Assange in London had occurred “at the highest levels” of the CIA and Trump White House, and that kill “sketches” and “options” had been drawn up on orders of Mike Pompeo, then CIA director. The investigation revealed that plans to kidnap and rendition Assange were far advanced and the CIA’s operations prompted a political decision to produce charges against him.
“Julian’s life is once more under grave threat, and so is the right of journalists to publish material that governments and corporations find inconvenient. This is about the right of a free press to publish without being threatened by a bullying superpower,” WikiLeaks Editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson said.