Assange will miss his extradition trial to the United States due to illness.

The United States has requested her extradition Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, alleging that there are political motives and objectives that are considered unacceptable under the extradition treaty with the United Kingdom and inconsistent with the Human Rights Convention included in British law. This argument was made on Tuesday by Assange's legal team before the High Court of England and Wales.

Assange himself was not present in court due to health problems, according to his lawyer, James Fitzgerald. In the meantime, His wife, Stella His father, John Shipton, sat in the courtroom during the first day of public hearings.

On the outskirts of the city, a crowd of demonstrators gathered in solidarity with the founder of WikiLeaks, who has been in the crosshairs of the US government since his leaks were published. Confidential documents The State Written by Chelsea Manning 14 years ago. The legal team said that no media director had faced prosecution in the United States for publishing confidential reports, and stressed the political nature of the proceedings.

The faces of Julian Assange 18 charges relating to obtaining and disseminating information, with the full knowledge that this “may be used to the detriment of the United States and in Benefit of a foreign country». Lawyer Mark Summer highlighted the “public interest” of the aforementioned documentary evidence revealing the “alleged responsibility of the United States government for serious crimes” such as torture, killing of civilians, or kidnapping of terrorist suspects.

Assange is seeking to challenge the “political” aspects of the US request, which was accepted in 2021. Although a lower court initially blocked the request extradition Given the risk of suicide, the diplomatic assurances provided in the appeal lifted this humanitarian ban. Assange is scheduled to serve a five-year prison sentence next April in a high-security prison in London.

Although he has served his 50-week prison sentence imposed in May 2019, after his expulsion from the Ecuadorian embassy, ​​he remains detained without charge awaiting a decision on the US extradition request. A ruling in his favor in the Supreme Court would lead to a new trial, where Freedom of the press and the right of the public Knowing the truth about the state's actions will be a priority. Failure to do so means the end of your legal life in the UK.