On 10 December 2021, the Court of Appeal overturned an earlier decision by Westminster Magistrates’ Court not to extradite Julian Assange to the US. Although this was a defeat for Assange’s struggle against extradition, the legal process is not yet exhausted and on 24 January 2022 he was granted permission to appeal further to the Supreme Court. SEAMUS O’ TUAIRISC reports.
The Magistrates’ Court had said that the oppressive conditions under which Assange would serve his sentence would lead him to take his own life. The US government argued that this gave too much weight to the testimony of psychiatrist Dr Michael Kopelman. The appeal court judges rejected US submissions relating to Assange’s suicide risk and Dr Kopelman’s testimony, but ruled that the extradition could nonetheless proceed on the basis of assurances provided by the US regarding the conditions of Assange’s imprisonment following extradition. These are to the effect that he will not be subject to Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) and will not be held in solitary confinement at maximum security prison ADX Florence, and that if he applies for a transfer to a prison in Australia, the US authorities will consent.
As Assange’s legal team highlighted during the hearing in October 2021, these assurances are dubious, as they were only given after the decision was reached to block the extradition. They do not remove all risk of Assange being held in solitary confinement in the US and being subject to SAMs, as there is no mechanism for any government to challenge the US if it does not honour these conditions, and they are qualified by a caveat that they could still be imposed if ‘he were to do something subsequent to the offering of these assurances that meets the tests for the imposition of SAMs or designation to ADX’.
The US has reneged on diplomatic assurances in extradition cases before; for example in 2009, when David Mendoza Herrarte was extradited from Spain to face drug trafficking charges. The Spanish national court stipulated that it would only allow the US to extradite Mendoza on conditions including that he would be able to return to Spain to serve his sentence. The US Embassy, the Spanish government and Mendoza all signed a document indicating that they agreed to these conditions.
After Mendoza was extradited and sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment, he applied three times for a transfer back to Spain, but each time was refused. Mendoza then filed a successful lawsuit against the Spanish authorities for violating the conditions of the extradition and his human rights, resulting in the Spanish Supreme Court threatening to suspend the extradition treaty between Spain and the US if he were not returned. Mendoza was eventually returned to Spain in 2015; by which time he had served six years in a US prison.
Although the US claims it would allow Assange to apply to serve his sentence at an Australian prison, there is no guarantee of this either. In order for such a transfer, the Australian courts would also need to provide written approval. Australia has largely been silent during this case and has given no indication that it would accept Assange. Like Mendoza, Assange could be subject to a lengthy legal process during which time he would be held at a US prison. On 4 January 2022 Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador reiterated his offer to grant Assange asylum in Mexico.
On 23 December 2021, Assange filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. On 24 January, the High Court granted him permission to apply for an appeal to the Supreme Court, on the narrow basis that the case raised legal questions around what stage of an extradition hearing assurances could be offered by the US. This does not automatically grant Assange the right for the Supreme Court to hear his appeal.
This case is not just about the fate of one man, but also about the future of journalistic freedom. Throughout, the US has colluded with the British courts to seek retribution against Assange for publishing documents that exposed its war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the extradition hearing, the US and Britain sought to disregard the political nature of the 18 espionage charges Assange faces in the US and, when the focus moved to Assange’s deteriorating health during the subsequent appeal hearing, the US again tried to manoeuvre around this by providing assurances which cannot be trusted. They have done this to make an example of Assange and to show that they will stop at nothing to get back at those who expose their crimes.
Free Julian Assange!
Defend the right to expose imperialist war crimes!
Show your solidarity – write to
Julian Assange, Prisoner #A9379AY,
HMP Belmarsh, Western Way, London SE28 0EB
