guardian.co.uk today informs us that the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, has lost his high court appeal against extradition to Sweden to face rape allegations.
Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Ouseley on Wednesday handed down their judgment in the 40-year-old Australian's appeal against a European arrest warrant issued by Swedish prosecutors after rape and sexual assault accusations made by two Swedish women following his visit to Stockholm in August 2010.
The judges rejected the appeal on all four grounds made by his legal team, opening up the possibility that Assange could be removed to Sweden by the end of the month.
Lord Justice Thomas said a date would be fixed in three weeks' time to hear any case by Assange that he should be allowed to take the case to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
To appeal again, Assange must persuade the judges there is a wider issue of "public importance" at stake in the latest decision. If he is successful in persuading the high court of that, he is likely to remain on conditional bail until a hearing in front of the supreme court. This is unlikely to take place until next year.
If he is denied the right to appeal then British law enforcement officers will be responsible for arranging his removal to Sweden within 10 days.
You can read Robert Booth´s full article here guardian.co.uk: Julian Assange loses appeal against extradition.
P.S. The picture pf Mr.. Assange was updated after the correct information supplied by my buddy Apmel in the comments.
P.S. The picture pf Mr.. Assange was updated after the correct information supplied by my buddy Apmel in the comments.
He has white hair now.
ReplyDeleteI would like to ask Assange what he has to hide. If he is so innocent he should have seen to get this thing over with long ago.
ReplyDeleteBut of course I´m a woman and a journalist.
Well, he claims he is afraid that Sweden will extradite him to the U.S.
ReplyDeleteI guess in his mind it could happen, although I cannot see that ever happening.
Sweden do not extradite people to countries that have death penalty. Thats why all deserters from the Vietnam War came here in the 70s.
ReplyDeleteSo true Vanadis, but that is what he thinks may happen anyway ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your contribution to Named Avatars - I love your story and your picture! ;)
Some clarification.
ReplyDeleteSweden and the U.S.A. have an extradition treaty in place since 1963.
In the United States, capital punishment (the death penalty) is a matter left up to the individual states in almost all circumstances. Not every state has it, Illinois outlaws it and New York does not practice it for example. It really is a red state (Republican) thing. We are not all primitive.
The U.S. Federal Government has applied capital punishment three times in the last 50 years. It is extremely rare and not used except for flagrant mass murders (such as the people who did the Oklahoma City bombings). It is not applied to espionage with foreign nationals, the last time that was done was in World War 2. Since an individual state cannot extradite a foreign national, Mr. Assange could not be executed.
I am curious about one thing. Wikileaks information has allowed the Taliban in Afghanistan to find Afghans who have opposed the Taliban and execute them and their families. At least 28 names were leaked.
I imagine many people think Mr. Assange is a great hero in his home country and wish to protect him. Do these people approve of his actions which have led to the executions of Afghan freedom fighters who are opposed to one of the most cruel regimes on the planet, the Taliban?
Thanks for the clarifications about the use of death penalties in the United States, Eddi, it was much needed.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that the supporters of Mr. Assange for a single moment contemplate the effects of the leaks on Afghan freedom fighters or the fate of democracy anywhere.
This is more of a rather sinister anti-Americanism and "anti-establishment" which I am afraid is not uncommon even in many parts of the world. It occurs even in the United States, the filmmaker Michael Moore has for instance given his support to Mr. Assange in the matter of extradition to Sweden.