Journalism is not a crime. Donate to help us stop Julian Assange’s extradition to the USA.
On 20 May we saw a major victory in the Assange case. The publisher was granted leave to appeal his extradition to the US. However, the fight is not over. We must keep protesting and keep applying the pressure to ensure that Julian is free!
The UK High Court has granted Julian Assange permission to appeal his extradition order, specifically on the grounds that the United States has failed to properly assure the British courts that Assange would get adequate freedom of expression protections if he were extradited.
The appeal permission is narrow but provides the first real chance for the substantive issue of whether the First Amendment would protect Assange can be aired in court. The parties have been given until May 24 to submit a proposed outline for how such an appeal hearing would be argued.
Free press organizations around the world welcomed the High Court’s decision, stressing once more the prosecution’s disastrous implications for press freedom and calling on the U.S. government to finally end it.
Freedom of speech matters. Freedom of press matters. Freedom of information matters.
Julian Assange is being sought by the current US administration for publishing US government documents which exposed war crimes and human rights abuses. The politically motivated charges represent an unprecedented attack on press freedom and the public’s right to know – seeking to criminalise basic journalistic activity.
We can’t fight this without your support. Please donate to help us prevent Julian Assange’s Extradition to the USA.
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Assange’s campaign for freedom is supported by Amnesty International, the National Union of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and virtually every civil rights, press freedom, and journalists’ union in the world. More than 70 Australian federal politicians have called on the US to drop the prosecution. In the United States, the Congressional representatives calling for the case to be dropped grows steadily, currently H. Res 934 sponsored by Paul Gosar is gathering signatures from all sides of politics.
Background:
4 January 2021: Westminster Magistrates Court discharges (throws out) the US extradition request against Julian Assange. District judge Vanessa Baraitser rules that extradition is barred under the 2003 Extradition Act because it is "opressive" (s.91). The United States Government appeals.
27-28 October 2021: US appeal hearing before the High Court Appeal. Julian Assange suffers a transient ischemic attack (TIA) on the first day.
10 December 2021: The decision to discharge the extradition request is overturned by the High Court due to the United States Government issuing so-called 'diplomatic assurances' to the UK Government. The High Court rejects the United States Government's arguments that the district judge erred in her findings.
14 March 2022: The Supreme Court refuses Julian Assange permission to appeal the High Court's decision. The case is sent back to the Magistrates' Court with instruction to issue the extradition order.
20 April 2022: The Magistrate issues the extradition order, which is sent to Home Secretary Priti Patel for approval.
17 June 2022: Home Secretary Priti Patel approves the extradition order to extradite Julian Assange to the United States.
6 June 2023: UK High Court Judge Jonathan Swift rejected appeal of Julian’s extradition order on all grounds. Julian Assange will make a renewed application for appeal to the High Court.
20-21 February 2024: Two judges heard the arguments for the appeal at The Royal Courts of Justice. The decision to be announced soon.
20 May 2024: The UK High Court granted Julian Assange permission to appeal his extradition order for the substantive issue of whether the First Amendment would protect Assange.