The wait continues for UK's High Court judgement on Julian Assange

In persistent rain, hundreds of campaigners and demonstrators flooded the pavements outside the High Court in central London.

There were continual chants of "Free Assange" and "No Extradition" in an almost messianic level of support for Julian Assange.

Inside the antiquated Law Court Number 5, barristers for the UK government and Assange's legal team argued why the co-founder of WikiLeaks should or should not be extradited. 

And at the end of the hearing, senior judge Victoria Sharp said that the court would give its decision at a later date.

Barristers representing the U.S. authorities had been setting out why Assange's legal team should not be allowed to appeal a 2022 decision by the then Home Secretary Priti Patel to extradite him. In their view, the case against Assange is "unarguable" and should not be allowed to proceed to a full hearing.

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‌It is another multinational twist in a long tale of why an American government wants the UK authorities to hand over an Australian citizen so he can stand trial in the U.S. on multiple charges, including espionage.

He's accused of publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010 and 2011, relating to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars - information that was leaked by an intelligence officer now known as Chelsea Manning.

‌Supporters of Assange and WikiLeaks argue that handing him over to U.S. authorities violates his human rights and freedom of speech, and is a threat to democracy itself. They also say that he's a hero for publishing alleged war crimes by U.S. armed forces.

‌But in Washington DC it's claimed his criminal actions put lives in danger - and the authorities are adamant they want their man to answer for his actions under their Espionage Act of 2017.

Within this law, it's a crime to convey information with the intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote its enemies' success. If found guilty, it is punishable by death, imprisonment for up to 30 years, or both.

Future implications

WikiLeaks' editor-in chief Kristinn Hrafnsson argues this hearing and future legal cases will be defined by politicians rather than the dry legal text of an extradition treaty. 

"A political prisoner has to be freed through political pressure," she told CGTN, "because there is no doubt in anyone's mind who takes a deep look at the case that Julian Assange is a political prisoner."

‌Assange's legal team say he faces a possible penalty of up to 175 years behind bars. Despite assurances by U.S. authorities that he will have a fair trial, his human rights will be protected and that they'd consider sending him to an Australian jail, there's deep mistrust.

Assange's lawyer ‌Jennifer Robinson believes there can't be a fair trial, and that if he's extradited, more charges will be brought against him and he could face the death penalty.

‌It's not just Assange's lawyers who worry about the implications. 

Rebecca Vincent from Reporters without Borders - an international freedom-of-information NGO - said: "We believe that this case has alarming implications for journalism and press freedom around the world - not least of all as he would be the first publisher tried under the U.S. Espionage Act."

The UK's interior ministry maintains extraditing Assange would not be "incompatible with his human rights" and said in a statement in June 2022 that if or when he's in the United States, "he will be treated appropriately."

‌That year, Assange married lawyer Stella Morris inside Belmarsh, the high-security prison in which he has been held since 2019. They have two young children, and as legal avenues to block an extradition run out, she says she's fearful about his health.

"His life is at risk every single day he stays in prison," she said. "And if he is extradited, he will die."

‌Robinson confirmed that if this appeal fails to lead to a new hearing, Assange's legal team will have 28 days to petition for a hearing at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

It might be a race against time, with the imminent legal decision possibly leading to U.S. officers arriving in London to try and take Assange across the Atlantic. 

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