US vows to appeal after British court rejects bid to extradite Julian Assange
A British judge has rejected a US bid to extradite Julian Assange to face charges relating to the publication of classified cables, saying it would be oppressive and that he would be at risk of suicide.
The appeal process will now begin, with lawyers for the US government announcing they will seek to overturn the ruling of Judge Vanessa Baraitser. The case could go all the way to the UK Supreme Court (equivalent to our High Court) and then potentially to the European courts. This process is likely to take another 18 months to three years.
The bitterness of the Americans has no end like Trump they can't be seen to be losers. yet at the same time they claim to be champions of press freedom and civilised incarceration. Their President is far more dangerous when it comes to the revelations of State secrets than Wikileaks ever was in fact Trump works with a press that makes up whatever it wants and nobody is ever charged unless of course the truth is revealed. (ODT)
"But she would not come at the proposal to place Assange, a man who is at
great risk of suicide and who suffers mental illness, in jail
conditions that amounted to solitary confinement for years on end.
"Faced with conditions of near total isolation … I am satisfied that the
procedures (outline by US authorities) will not prevent Mr Assange from
finding a way to commit suicide," Judge Baraitser said."
Assange, if extradited, would have been held in a prison where he got one 15-minute monitored phone call with his family a month, where he could not have contact with other inmates, and where anytime out of his cell would be in a small room or a cage. Rather than face such conditions, which could remain in place for the rest of his life given the maximum penalty for the charges he faces in the US is over 170 years, Assange, Judge Baraitser concluded, would rather kill himself. To visit such a fate on an individual is not something this British court was prepared to do. In this sense Judge Baraitser struck a blow for the rule of law against an American penal system, which is horrifically inhumane, and which showed in this case that when it comes to so called "enemies of the state" it has learnt nothing from the horrors of Guantanamo Bay and other similar facilities.
Of course, though, as noted above, Assange’s troubles are not entirely over because of the lengthy appeal process which both sides can pursue depending on the ruling in respect of Judge Baraitser’s decision.
This is where Senator Payne and the Morrison government come into the picture, albeit they should have been there already lobbying Washington to end this case for some time now.
They haven't to date so why should we expect them to today? (ODT)
Opinion
Opinion
Here's something for Marise Payne and Scott Morrison to consider
Given what Judge Baraitser said about the US's proposed treatment of Assange, Senator Payne should be urging US counterparts to end the hunt.
Mexico to offer Assange asylum after US extradition bid fails
Mexico's President says he will offer Julian Assange political asylum and supports the decision of a British judge to deny extradition of the WikiLeaks founder to the US.
No doubt the Americans would love Assange in Mexico to do with whatever thay want rather than say Cuba where he be safe. The Australian government certainly wouldn't.
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