Founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange will face a crucial hearing this Monday in his extradition proceedings to the United States, during which the London High Court will consider whether to authorize his extradition or instead allow him to continue his appeal in the United Kingdom.

Judges Victoria Sharp and Adam Johnson will specifically evaluate if the three guarantees offered to the court by the US government are satisfactory about the treatment he will receive in this country, which, according to the defense, is insufficient.

Assange’s physical presence or presence at these hearings via videoconference will not be known until the last moment. due to his poor physical and mental health.

After hearing the parties, the court will make a decision either on Monday or another day. If you accept Washington’s assurances, he is accused of 18 alleged crimes related to espionage and computer hacking based on revelations on his portal, which in 2010 and 2011 exposed US military abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If he approves them, his extradition can be carried out, which The British government has already approved it in June 2022.

In this case, protection plans request an interim order from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) stop this in order to initiate proceedings in this court in Strasbourg (France).

On the other hand, if the judges consider one or all of the guarantees to be invalid, the programmer can challenge them in the new Court of Appeal in the United Kingdom.

US guarantees

On March 26, the Supreme Court ruled that Assange can appeal his surrender on three of nine grounds presented by his defense at his previous trial in February unless the United States provided the above guarantees.

They had to ensure that if he was tried there, 52-year-old Australian will not face the death penalty -illegal in the United Kingdom-; You will not be discriminated against because of your non-U.S. citizenship and will be able to rely on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects freedom of expression.

In a diplomatic message to the court in April, the Washington government assured that if Assange were extradited “he will not be disadvantaged because of his nationality in relation to the defense he chooses to use at trial or before sentencing.”

“In particular, he may raise the issue and seek to invoke during the trial (which includes any sentencing hearing) the rights and protections offered by the First Amendment,” he said, although he clarified that the decision If this were to be applied to him, “it is exclusively consistent with the courts of the United States.”

Washington also stated that “The death penalty will not be sought or imposed” since the programmer is not accused of any capital crime.

Stella Assange The defendant’s wife and mother of his two minor children will be in the courtroom Monday and plans to make statements both before and after the hearing. Meanwhile, outside there is a big demonstration of sympathizers of the former “hacker”.

Assange has been in preventive detention at London’s Belmarsh maximum security prison since April 2019. after the United States demanded its delivery.

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He was previously under house arrest after his initial arrest in 2010 at the request of Sweden in a now closed case, and between 2012 and 2019 he took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, which He eventually revoked his political asylum.

Fidel Narvaez, former Ecuadorian consul in London, noted in Aristegui Live this andThe essence of the case against the founder of Wikileaks is political, because the “establishment” and the US military-industrial complex are seeking revenge on the journalist.

(according to information from EFE And Aristegui News)