Key Points
- Julian Assange's legal battle to prevent extradition to the US from the UK has entered a final stage.
- The legal team for the Australian has until Tuesday to file a renewed application to appeal to the UK High Court.
- Assange's brother says he has concerns for the health and safety of his sibling.
Julian Assange's legal team has confirmed it has made a last-ditch attempt to try to stop the Wikileaks founder being extradited to the US on espionage charges after a UK judge this week rejected a previous appeal.
The 51-year-old faces a maximum prison term of 175 years if found guilty on all 18 charges filed by the US Department of Justice over Wikileaks' publication of thousands of classified US military and diplomatic files.
Assange has until Tuesday to launch a second appeal, which will be dealt with by a panel of two judges with a public hearing.
"On Tuesday next week, my husband Julian Assange will make a renewed application for appeal to the High Court," Assange's wife Stella said in a statement.
"We remain optimistic that we will prevail and that Julian will not be extradited to the United States where he faces charges that could result in him spending the rest of his life in a maximum security prison for publishing true information that revealed war crimes committed by the US government.
Final step in UK legal battle
On Tuesday, the UK High Court rejected all eight grounds of authorised by the UK government in June 2022.
Justice Jonathan Swift ruled on the matter, outlining his reasons in a three-page judgment.
Reporters Without Borders has been monitoring the extradition proceedings. The group's director of campaigns, Rebecca Vincent, said the decision is a major setback.
"It is absurd that a single judge can issue a three-page decision that could land Julian Assange in prison for the rest of his life and permanently impact the climate for journalism around the world," she said, calling on US President Joe Biden to drop the charges against Assange.
"The historical weight of what happens next cannot be overstated; it is time to put a stop to this relentless targeting of Assange and act instead to protect journalism and press freedom."
It's the first time a publisher has been charged under the 1917 Espionage Act in the United States, according to lawyer Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in the US.
"By its terms, the Espionage Act criminalizes activity integral to press freedom," he wrote in expert testimony submitted as part of the Assange legal proceedings.
All but one of the 18 charges come under the Espionage Act, relating to the disclosure of national security information. There is one count of "conspiracy to commit computer intrusion" for assisting to break a US Department of Defense password to access classified information.
The leaked documents were published by Wikileaks in 2010 and included documents on the US operations in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Timeline for extradition
This final push to avoid extradition will exhaust legal avenues in the UK, but Assange could choose to bring a case to stop the extradition before the European Court of Human Rights.
Assange's brother, Gabriel Shipton, said he is worried for the health of his sibling who has been detained in London's Belmarsh prison since April 2019.
"He is in a delicate position health-wise, both physically and mentally. He needs the support of his family just to be able to keep going," he told SBS News.
Julian Assange pictured in 2019. His legal team are preparing to file a renewed appeal to the UK High Court in what would be the last legal step in the battle through the UK courts to block extradition to the US. Source: AAP / Matt Dunham
He says he doesn't take at face value previous assurances from the US government on avoiding highly restrictive prison conditions in the US - including not being placed in solitary confinement pre- or post-trial out of concern for Assange's mental health.
"If you actually read them, they're not guaranteed at all. They actually say that the US government, at any time, can decide to put Julian in these exact prison conditions that have would have been found to be torturous and really threatening for Julian's life. That's why we're fighting this with everything we've got."
How has the Australian government reacted?
SBS has put questions to the office of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Recent high-level diplomatic representations have involved Australia's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Stephen Smith, who .
Mr Albanese said at the time he encouraged that visit to happen, saying he continues to hold the position that Julian Assange should be released from prison.
"I have said publicly that I have raised these issues at an appropriate level, of Julian Assange. I have made it clear the Australian government’s position, which is: enough is enough.
"There’s nothing to be served from ongoing issues being continued. And I said that in opposition. My position hasn’t changed as the prime minister and I've indicated that in an appropriate way."
Mr Shipton said he holds little hope that the end to this saga will come via a legal solution, saying he urges Mr Albanese and Joe Biden to intervene and have the charges dropped.
"His extradition is progressing quickly and all the things that the government saying are not worth anything if Julian is extradited to the United States. They become empty platitudes."
