Julian Assange’s spouse calls on protesters to march on Downing Street

Julian Assange‘s spouse has known as on protesters to march on Downing Street – as her husband was right now accused of ‘placing lives in danger’ together with his WikiLeaks revelations. 

Assange is in a last-ditch battle to keep away from extradition to the US the place he faces espionage fees after a whole bunch of 1000’s of secret recordsdata referring to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars had been leaked on-line.

In an impassioned speech exterior the High Court on the ultimate day of his enchantment listening to, the 52-year-old’s spouse Stella Assange accused the White House of ‘mendacity’ about her husband in an try and ‘criminalise’ journalism. 

During a political broadside towards the American authorities, the 40-year-old lawyer mentioned the US prosecution of her husband confirmed that ‘state secrets and techniques trump revealing state crimes’.

Cheered on by her husband’s supporters exterior of courtroom, Ms Assange mentioned: ‘How pathetic the US case is that they need to depend on lies – after which the prosecutors say do not query these lies as a result of that might offend our ally.

‘Fourteen years on all they will do is repeat the lies from the very first Pentagon press convention speaking level’s sheet.

‘What they’re making an attempt to argue is that state secrets and techniques trump revealing state crimes. This is the stability they’re making an attempt to shift.

‘They need impunity, they do not wish to be scrutinised and journalism stands in the way in which.

‘In that courtroom room they’re having to make their place more and more clear. They need to admit that what they’re doing is criminalising journalism – it is criminalising the reality.

‘They’re liars, they’re criminals and so they’re persecuting the journalist who uncovered them.’

Her feedback got here because the second and remaining day of Assange’s enchantment towards extradition to the US approached its conclusion. 

The Australian has been indicted on 17 fees of espionage and one cost of pc misuse over his web site’s publication of labeled US paperwork virtually 15 years in the past. His legal professionals say he faces as much as 175 in jail, that means if he’s extradited to America and convicted, he would probably die behind bars. 

If his newest courtroom enchantment combat fails, he shall be extradited inside a month – except his authorized crew can persuade the European Court of Human Rights to intervene. 

In a January 2021 ruling, then-district choose Vanessa Baraitser mentioned Assange shouldn’t be despatched to the America, citing an actual and ‘oppressive’ threat of suicide, whereas ruling towards him on all different points.

But later that yr, US authorities received their High Court bid to overturn this block, paving the way in which in direction of Assange’s extradition.

The 52-year-old’s legal professionals are actually asking the High Court to grant him a brand new enchantment – his final authorized roll of the cube within the long-running authorized saga that has stored him caged at Belmarsh most safety jail in south-east London for the previous 5 years.

American prosecutors say Assange helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and army recordsdata that WikiLeaks later printed, placing lives in danger.

US authorities are opposing the WikiLeaks founder’s bid for an enchantment, telling the courtroom his case is ‘unarguable’ and shouldn’t be allowed to proceed to a full listening to.

At the beginning of the arguments on behalf of the US on Wednesday, Clair Dobbin KC mentioned the plans to extradite and prosecute Assange are primarily based on his alleged actions, not his political beliefs.

She informed the High Court that Assange faces allegations he inspired and assisted Manning in acquiring labeled paperwork, together with round 400,000 Iraq war-related exercise studies and 250,000 US State Department cables, earlier than publishing lots of them via WikiLeaks.

The secret recordsdata detailed facets of army campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq and secret cables about Guantanamo Bay.

This included the infamous ‘Collateral Murder’ video, which confirmed the July 2007 killing by an American Apache helicopter crew of 11 civilians, together with Reuters journalists Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and Saeed Chmagh, 40.

The video, recorded by the helicopter gunsight, confirmed the helicopter crew firing into a gaggle of Iraqi civilian males in Baghdad after being given permission from a commanding officer, killing 11 males and severely wounding two youngsters.

Ms Dobbin mentioned there have been ‘profound penalties’, with among the named sources within the paperwork, who had supplied data to the US, going through arrest, the lack of belongings, threats and harassment.

‘This wasn’t a slip, or an error, this was the publication of an enormous quantity of fabric unredacted,’ she mentioned.

In written submissions, Ms Dobbin and James Lewis KC described the leak as ‘one of many largest compromises of labeled data within the historical past of the United States’.

They continued: ‘It is particularly alleged towards the appellant that by publishing this data on the WikiLeaks web site, he created a grave and imminent threat that the human sources named therein would endure severe bodily hurt.’

The US authorities have denied that the choice to extradite or prosecute Assange is because of his political beliefs.

Ms Dobbin mentioned: ‘The administration within the US in fact modified throughout these proceedings… however nonetheless the prosecution of the appellant stays in foot.

‘Because it’s primarily based on regulation and proof, not political inspiration.’

During the primary day of the listening to on Tuesday, Mark Summers KC argued the US prosecution of Assange could be retribution for his political beliefs, that means it might be illegal to extradite him beneath UK regulation.

He mentioned: ‘This is a paradigm instance of state retaliation for the expression of political opinion.

‘The district choose didn’t deal with it – had she finished so, it might have been deadly to her resolution.’

The barrister later mentioned that the unique choose ‘rejected outright’ that Assange needs to be handled like a journalist ‘or what he did may fall beneath the ambit of accountable journalism’.

Assange’s legal professionals argued on the primary day of the listening to on Tuesday that American authorities are looking for to punish him for WikiLeaks’ ‘publicity of criminality on the a part of the US authorities on an unprecedented scale,’ together with torture and killings.

Barrister Edward Fitzgerald KC mentioned Assange could ‘endure a flagrant denial of justice’ if he’s despatched to America.

Speaking within the High Court in the course of the opening day of his enchantment listening to, Mr Fitzgerald KC mentioned his extradition for ‘purely political offences’ was unlawful and that ‘the secretary of state ought to have refused to authorise extradition.’ 

He mentioned the choice breached of Article Four of the 2003 Anglo-US extradition treaty, which, he mentioned, prohibited extradition on political grounds. 

‘The offences with which Mr Assange is charged are all ‘political offences’, extradition for which is squarely prohibited by the phrases of Article 4(1) of the Treaty,’ the barrister informed the High Court. 

The Australian’s authorized crew additionally accused American authorities of trying a ‘breathtaking’ plan to ‘to kill’ or kidnap the WikiLeaks founder whereas he was sheltering within the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Mark Summers KC mentioned the plot ‘solely fell aside when the UK authorities weren’t very eager on the considered rendition, or a shootout, within the streets of London’.

The barrister argued the US prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder was retribution for his political beliefs – which he argued would make it illegal to extradite him – and that there have been ‘crimson flags’ all over the place within the case.

His authorized crew claimed the espionage fees towards him had been an unprecedented try by Washington to ‘criminalise journalism’, in retaliation for Wikileaks’ publication of the leaked paperwork. 

But Clair Dobbin, KC, on behalf of the US, claimed the District Judge who initially assessed Assange’s extradition case had rejected the thought he was a journalist practising ‘accountable journalism’.

She mentioned: ‘The District Judge had rejected outright that the appellant was to be handled as a journalist, or akin to a journalist, or a writer, or that what he did may fall into the ambit of accountable journalism.’

She claimed Assange had ‘explicitly solicited’ labeled materials from others for publication on the WikiLeaks web site, slightly than merely being a passive recipient of it.

Ms Dobbin added: ‘He will not be a recipient. He’s not somebody who’s arrange a web based ‘field’ to which individuals can present labeled data.’

She mentioned Manning, who gave Assange ‘4 virtually full databases’ containing a whole bunch of 1000’s of paperwork, had been responding to this solicitation when she handed the knowledge.

‘Ms Manning was in direct contact with the appellant, who inspired her to steal the labeled data from the US and unlawfully disclose it to WikiLeaks,’ the barrister added.

She additionally mentioned Assange had gone additional when he ‘agreed to help Manning in cracking an encrypted password hash saved on US Department of Defence computer systems’ so as to achieve entry to additional labeled data.

As a consequence, Assange was ‘not able to assert he’s or acts in a means akin to an unusual journalist or, when it comes to WikiLeaks, as an unusual writer.’

His ‘complicity’ within the theft of data prolonged past Ms Manning.

‘Since the time he began WikiLeaks he and others sought to recruit people with entry to labeled data to unlawfully disclose that data to WikiLeaks,’ the barrister mentioned.

She added that he additionally continued to attempt to recruit individuals to hack techniques and supply data after Manning was arrested.

Ms Dobbin disputed whether or not Manning was a whistleblower, saying this notion ‘breaks down on sensible consideration of what she was accused of, particularly responding to WikiLeaks’ efforts to solicit disclosure.’

She mentioned Manning had not given ‘any affordable thought to particular disclosure to make or particular points she needed to boost,’ and that she had indiscriminately handed materials over in bulk.

Ms Dobbin claimed this challenged the argument made by Assange’s legal professionals yesterday that extradition would breach his European Convention on Human Rights [EHCR] Article 10 rights, which shield a person’s freedom of expression.

‘To the extent that the appellant argues that the act of extradition would expose him to a breach of his Article 10 rights as a result of he was merely aiding a whistleblower or appearing as any journalist may rests upon a mischaracterisation of the premise upon which the appellant was being prosecuted.’

Assange had additionally knowingly printed materials containing the names of people when he printed unredacted some 250,000 US State Department cables in 2011, and that he knew it might put individuals in danger, the barrister claimed.

The 52-year-old was not in courtroom on Tuesday as a result of he was unwell, his lawyer mentioned. Stella Assange, his spouse, mentioned Julian had needed to attend, however was ‘not in good situation.’ 

Assange’s household and supporters say his bodily and psychological well being have suffered throughout greater than a decade of authorized battles, together with seven years in self-exile within the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and the final 5 years within the high-security jail on the outskirts of the British capital.

Stella Assange, who married the WikiLeaks founder in jail in 2022 – mentioned final week that his well being has deteriorated throughout years of confinement and ‘if he is extradited, he’ll die.’

Supporters holding ‘Free Julian Assange’ indicators and chanting ‘there is just one resolution – no extradition’ held a loud protest exterior the neo-Gothic High Court constructing for a second day on Wednesday.

Assange’s authorized troubles started in 2010, when he was arrested in London on the request of Sweden, which needed to query him about allegations of rape and sexual assault made by two girls. In 2012, Assange jumped bail and sought refuge contained in the Ecuadorian Embassy. 

The relationship between Assange and his hosts finally soured, and he was evicted from the embassy in April 2019. British police instantly arrested and imprisoned him for breaching bail in 2012. Sweden dropped the intercourse crimes investigations in November 2019 as a result of a lot time had elapsed.

A U.Okay. district courtroom choose rejected the U.S. extradition request in 2021 on the grounds that Assange was more likely to kill himself if held beneath harsh U.S. jail circumstances. Higher courts overturned that call after getting assurances from the U.S. about his remedy. The British authorities signed an extradition order in June 2022.

Meanwhile, the Australian parliament final week known as for Assange to be allowed to return to his homeland.

If judges Victoria Sharp and Jeremy Johnson rule towards Assange, he can ask the European Court of Human Rights to dam his extradition – although supporters fear he might be placed on a aircraft to the U.S. earlier than that occurs, as a result of the British authorities has already signed an extradition order.

The two justices may ship a verdict on the finish of the listening to on Wednesday, however they’re extra more likely to take a number of weeks to contemplate their resolution.