Skip to main content
Gifts from The Morning Star
Assange: Will the shocking revelations of US criminality shift public opinion?
Today, London’s Royal Courts of Justice will provide the backdrop for a fresh attempt to drag Julian Assange before a US judge and face a life sentence for journalism — TIM DAWSON previews the case

CLAIR DOBBIN QC and James Lewis QC, who represent the US, are ferocious advocates. Their appeal will call into question the specialisations, motivations and reputations of expert witnesses. At an earlier hearing, the US team successfully argued that Professor Michael Kopelman’s failure to disclose facts about Assange’s family meant that his entire testimony was open to question — despite the eminent psychiatrist having a reasonable explanation for his omission.

The courtroom battle will be brutal, vicious and public. What has become clear in recent days, however, is that there is an equally fierce dispute going on elsewhere that could have an even greater impact on Assange’s future. It is taking place behind closed doors, however.

Assange is currently being held at Belmarsh prison in London, awaiting the outcome of legal manoeuvres to prosecute him in the US for charges relating to classified files that Wikileaks published in 2010. After five weeks of hearings in 2020, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser dismissed the US application to extradite the Australian. Her grounds were that the US penal regime was such that it would increase the likelihood of Assange taking his own life, which she deemed “oppressive.” It is this judgement the US is appealing.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
SLAIN BY IDF: Shireen Abu Akleh
Features / 9 August 2024
9 August 2024
The wholesale murder by Israel's armed forces of journalists in Gaza is a cause for international concern, writes TIM DAWSON
VINDICATED: Journalists Barry McCaffrey (left) and Trevor Bi
Features / 19 July 2024
19 July 2024
TIM DAWSON looks at how obsessive police surveillance of journalists undermines the very essence of democracy
Features / 25 June 2024
25 June 2024
At long last the WikiLeaks founder is free. For all those who care about freedom of speech it’s time to celebrate, writes TIM DAWSON of the International Federation of Journalists
Stella Assange, the wife of Julian Assange, speaks during a
Britain / 20 May 2024
20 May 2024
Similar stories
FUTURES AT STAKE: (L to R) The MY (motor yacht) Steve Irwin
Features / 23 November 2024
23 November 2024
The veteran ocean defender, a founding member of both Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace, is under arrest in Greenland and faces extradition to Japan for protecting whales — but the world outcry isn’t there, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
SLAIN BY IDF: Shireen Abu Akleh
Features / 9 August 2024
9 August 2024
The wholesale murder by Israel's armed forces of journalists in Gaza is a cause for international concern, writes TIM DAWSON