WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faces US extradition judgment day

19/5/2024 17:13

        A British court could give a final decision on Monday on whether WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange should be extradited to the United States over the mass leak of secret U.S. documents, the culmination of 13 years of legal battles and detentions.
        
        Two judges at the High Court in London are set to rule on whether the court is satisfied by U.S. assurances that Assange, 52, would not face the death penalty and could rely on the First Amendment right to free speech if he faced a U.S. trial for spying.
        
        Assange's legal team say he could be on a plane across the Atlantic within 24 hours of the decision, could be released from jail, or his case could yet again be bogged down in months of legal battles.
        
        "I have the sense that anything could happen at this stage," his wife Stella said last week. "Julian could be extradited, or he could be freed."
        
        She said her husband hoped to be in court for the crucial hearing.