UK judges have cleared the way for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to be extradited to the U.S. after overturning an earlier ruling that said the move would impact his mental health and make him a suicide risk.

British Home Secretary Priti Patel will have the final say and Assange can appeal today's decision. Assange faces charges in America as a result of the publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

As a result of unrelated accusations of sexual assault, he had taken refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, remaining there for seven years before being arrested by British police in 2019. 

READ MORE

Bird flu at 'phenomenal level' in UK

Climate icons saving the planet

IOC respects U.S. boycott of Beijing 2022

In January this year, his lawyers successfully argued that he was mentally unfit to be extradited to the U.S. and that high-security prison conditions could lead Assange to kill himself. However, today, the High Court in London overturned that ruling after the U.S. offered a series of assurances, including agreeing to let Assange serve his sentence in his native Australia unless he committed a crime that warranted a more serious punishment.

Why does the U.S. want to extradite Assange?

The Wikileaks founder was indicted on 18 counts of obtaining and disclosing material of national security and publishing them on the website between 2009 and 2010.

When he was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy by British police in July 2020 the U.S. applied for his extradition, accusing him of being complicit in obtaining or receiving classified databases, attempting to hack government computer systems and publishing documents with names of "innocent people who risked their safety and freedom to provide information to the United States and its allies."

Why has the UK's High Court overturned an earlier ruling?

The judges considering the appeal were Ian Burnett, the most senior criminal judge in England and Wales and Timothy Holyrode who concluded that in the original trial the U.S. was not afforded the opportunity to assure the court that Assange's mental and physical welfare would not be jeopardised by the extradition. In the appeal the U.S. outlined a package of measures to assure the UK of Assange's safety.

In that agreement the U.S. has said Assange will not be subject to Special Administrative Measures, which include restricting contatct with the outside world such as isolation and monitoring calls or conversations between a defendant and legal counsel.  

The UK court was also told that the U.S. will agree to allow Assange to serve any sentence he may face in the country where he was born, Australia. 

On review the judges felt that claims the extradition would be "oppressive" had been removed by the new commitments from the U.S. and granted the appeal. 

What happens now?

Assange can appeal to the Supreme Court in the UK but his legal team will have to satisfy the judges that the High Court's decision was incorrect. The case has been refered to a District Judge at Westminster magistrates court. 

This is more of a formality now as a District Judge, having no grounds on which to consider the extradition oppressive, will refer it to the Home Secretary Priti Patel for a final decision. 

Assange's partner, Stella Moris, said they would "appeal this decision at the earliest possible moment", calling it a "grave miscarriage of justice".
"How can it be fair, how can it be right, how can it be possible, to extradite Julian to the very country which plotted to kill him," she said.