Latest editorial
Protestors outside the High Court in London, ahead of a hearing in the US government's legal challenge over a judge's decision not to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange
CREDIBLE reports of CIA plots to assassinate or kidnap Julian Assange make it impossible to know what would happen if he were extradited to the United States, the Wikileaks founder’s lawyer told the High Court today.
The central London court heard a second and final day of legal arguments in the US appeal against District Judge Vanessa Baraitser’s decision in January not to extradite Mr Assange, citing a real and “oppressive” risk of suicide.
Representing the journalist, Edward Fitzgerald QC told the court that Mr Assange faced a “menacing, threatening and frightening” situation while under surveillance in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and that he was monitored “in co-operation with an American agency” during his time there.
Groups are urging the US government to secure the 16-year old’s release as his mental and physical health decline dramatically after nine months inside Ofer prison, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
