Looks like we’re going to have to wait a little longer to find out what will happen to Julian Assange.
The Wikileaks founder faces a delay over the decision on whether or not he can bring an appeal against his extradition to the US. However, UK judges did block his immediate transfer for trial on hacking and espionage charges.
US authorities have been given three weeks to offer assurances in the case, including whether Assange could face the death penalty.
In 2010 and 2011, Assange orchestrated the publication of information about the Iraq and Afghan wars as well as detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
He and his supporters say this was simply part of his work as a journalist, exposing wrongdoing by the US State. But he now faces 18 criminal charges including allegations of hacking and espionage.
At the High Court on Tuesday, Dame Victoria Sharp, President of the King’s Bench Division, and Mr Justice Johnson dismissed six of the nine points of appeal brought by Assange and his legal team.
But they delayed the decision on the other three, including the question of whether Assange could face the death penalty if convicted in the US.
Julian Assange has spent more than 13 years seeking to avoid a trail in the US, over the mass leak of confidential records. He’s been in a UK prison since 2019.
The Standard’s courts correspondent. Tristan Kirk, discusses the ruling and shares his insight into the saga.
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