UK Prosecutor’s Office Went Too Far in the Assange Case: Corbyn
May 16, 2024 Hour: 9:18 am
On Thursday, a group of legislators called on the House of Commons Justice Committee to investigate the role of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in Julian Assange’s extradition process.
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Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, ex-Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, Conservative David Davis, and Green Party’s Caroline Lucas argue that there are indications that the CPS may have overstepped its bounds in advising the Swedish government.
In Assange’s legal proceedings, the CPS acts as prosecutor on behalf of the requesting countries, first Sweden for a now-closed case and since 2019 on behalf of the U.S. Justice.
“Evidence has emerged that exposes the CPS to accusations of misjudgment, or possibly overreach, in its role in advising Swedish authorities on Assange’s extradition to Sweden,” said the lawmakers.
“This leads to questioning the motives behind these actions, including whether the CPS was influenced by another extradition request or aimed to facilitate Assange’s subsequent extradition to the United States,” they added.
Stella Assange speaking today on mondays’ UK court decision on whether UK will allow extradition of Julian Assange #FreeAssangeNOW pic.twitter.com/y5olwOCl1c
— Defend Assange Campaign (@DefendAssange)
May 16, 2024
When Sweden requested Assange’s extradition in 2010 to question him about alleged sexual offenses, his defense argued it was politically motivated persecution to eventually extradite him to the U.S., which was investigating him after WikiLeaks revealed U.S. Army human rights violations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At that time, Assange’s team asked Sweden – represented by the Prosecution Service – to question their client on British soil or to provide assurances that, if extradited, he would not be subsequently sent to the United States. These proposals did not progress.
Lawmakers emphasize that NGOs such as Reporters Without Borders have warned that prosecuting Assange in the U.S. would endanger freedom of expression.
The 52-year-old Australian will face a decisive hearing in the final stretch of his UK process on Monday, when the High Court of London will assess assurances offered by Washington before deciding whether to authorize his extradition to the U.S. or, alternatively, to allow him to continue appealing in England.
#FromTheSouth News Bits | The President of the United States, Joe Biden informed that he is studying the possibility of dropping the case against the journalist and founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange. pic.twitter.com/PpbtUse7y2
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
April 12, 2024
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Autor: teleSUR/ JF
Fuente: EFE
