WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has won the right to ask the Supreme Court to block his extradition to the US.
He was due to find out whether he can appeal to Britain’s Supreme Court against the decision to extradite him to the US Supreme Court. The court will now be deciding whether to permit Assange to appeal that decision to the UK Supreme Court on “points of law of general public importance”.
Assange is facing 18 charges relating to the release of 500,000 secret US files.
The US authorities on December 10 won a bid in London’s High Court to have Assange extradited from the UK to the US to face criminal charges.
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The decision came as a reversal of the UK court’s January ruling that stated that the 50-year-old could not be extradited because of concerns over his mental health and the Australian would be a suicide risk in the US justice system.
Assange could be jailed for up to 175 years in the US. He is facing charges in the US system under the Espionage Act for his role in publishing classified military and diplomatic cables in 2010 and 2011. The US authorities claimed that the release of confidential records had put lives in danger.
His fiancee Stella Moris has climed that he had spent longer in Belmarsh than several others who are sentenced for violent crimes.
(With inputs from agencies)
