LONDON. The second and final case has ended at the High Court in London hearing on the final appeal of Julian Assange's defence, Australian journalist and co-founder of WikiLeaks, against his hotly contested extradition proceedings from the UK to the US, without a court verdict expected on another date. It will be a matter of a few days as expected, but the judges have not given precise indications on the matter, reserving the necessary time to reflect on the opposing arguments of the parties.
Honorary citizenship to Assange, the race of Italian municipalities
richard moon
The United States accuses Assange of 18 counts of espionage and computer intrusion for the dissemination in 2010 and 2011 of documents denouncing alleged violations committed by the US armed forces in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“By encouraging U.S. military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning and others to hack into government computers and steal from them, you have gone 'well beyond' the mere gathering of information by a journalist,” said lawyer Clair Dobbin, who represented Washington before the High Court in London in the final hearing on the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States.
The founder of Wikileaks, Dobbin explained, “was not someone who just created an online box to which people could provide classified information. The allegations are that he tried to encourage theft and hacking for the benefit of WikiLeaks.” According to the lawyer, with his activities Assange damaged the security and intelligence services of the United States and “created a serious and imminent risk” by disseminating hundreds of thousands of documents that could damage and lead to the arbitrary detention of innocent people, many of which lived in war zones or under repressive regimes.
Julian Assange was not in the courtroom. On Wikileaks' X account today, they wrote '”as the second and final day of the crucial hearing begins in London, Julian Assange is once again unable to attend due to serious health problems.” Assange was not present in the courtroom even yesterday and his lawyer, Ed Fitzgerald, at the opening of the hearing had explained that his client is not well and, despite having permission to participate in person, he remained in maximum prison Belmarsh security in London. He has been here since 2019, without having undergone any trial, awaiting extradition to the United States.
And, since yesterday, supporters of Julian Assange have gathered outside the British consulate in New York, located at 885 Second Avenue and 47th Street, in Manhattan. The rally was organized by various groups, including NYC Free Assange, Assange Defense and CODEPINK. The International Pressenza agency reports this. The demonstration aims to draw attention to the Australian journalist's legal battle taking place on the other side of the Atlantic, in London. A heterogeneous crowd showing solidarity with Assange, including banners, songs and speeches; the protesters demand justice for the founder of WikiLeaks and among the people gathered in Manhattan the actress and film producer Susan Sarandon also speaks, who has always combined civil and political commitment with his profession. He talks about the need to defend freedom of the press and the right of citizens to know the actions of governments. A global movement is gathering for the prisoner of Belmarsh: from New York to London and Australia, there are ever more voices opposing what many now perceive as an attack on fundamental freedoms and the public's right to know the truth.
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