The High Court of London announced this Tuesday, March 26, that it is delaying until May 20 the decision on the extradition to the United States of the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange. In addition, the judges asked the US Justice Department for more guarantees about how the journalist would be tried in that country. Washington claims him for 18 crimes, most of them for espionage, after in 2010 he published until then secret files on the US military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which he exposed dozens of irregularities, crimes and excesses.
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A partial victory for Julian Assange in his long legal battle after the leak of US Government documents.
The High Court of London ruled this Tuesday, March 26, that it delays its decision on the United States extradition request until at least May 20. against the Australian citizen.
Besides, The court demanded that Washington provide guarantees regarding respect for Assange's rights in an eventual transfer and trial in United States territory, among them that he will not face the death penalty.
The judges thus authorized the founder of Wikileaks to appeal his case before the United Kingdom Justice, if London and Washington cannot offer the court adequate guarantees. In their decision, the justices noted that there are real possibilities of successfully appealing against his delivery to that country.
US prosecutors are seeking to prosecute Assange, 52, on 18 counts. 17 of them under the Espionage Act and one for computer hackingafter publishing classified US Government documents in 2010.
It was a package of 500,000 secret files on the military campaigns of the leading power in Iraq and Afghanistan where dozens of irregularities, crimes and excesses were exposed.
Among the records stands out a video in which US combat helicopters were seen shooting at civilians in Iraq – in 2007 –, a specific attack that left a dozen civilians dead, including two journalists from the Reuters news agency.
News in development…
With Reuters and AP
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