UK courts have sufficient legal reason to deny the extradition of Julian Assange.
“The UK has more than enough legal reasoning to deny the extradition of Julian Assange but has failed so far to do so, despite having denied the extradition of other citizens whose cases had less legal justification for doing so”, explains Interpol and Extradition expert witness, Radha Stirling, founder of IPEX Reform and Due Process International.
“Assange’s legal team has presented sufficient evidence in respect of his mental and physical health that would allow the British courts to decline American requests. British courts denied the extradition of Corey de Rose to the US based on the defendant’s depression and suicide risk. Certainly the Assange legal team has demonstrated that Julian himself, is a suicide risk if extradited to a country that would have him jailed for life (or executed). It’s outrageous that the English court in Julian’s case has denied him the same rights other citizens have been granted. I believe this exemplifies America’s bullying of our politicians and judges, resulting in partial rulings that would not be given in other less political cases.
“There is further undeniable evidence that Assange would not receive a fair trial in the jurisdiction where he would stand trial and that it is highly likely he will face human rights violations within the penal system. In other cases where wanted persons have surrendered, they have faced abuse within the prisons, violence, unjustified solitary confinement and human rights violations with deliberate intimidation by authorities to obtain guilty pleas.
“The UK can not rely on any assurances by the US that additional charges won’t be levied, that he will be treated fairly, that he won’t face the death penalty or will be afforded the same rights as US citizens. There is no way for the UK to enforce these assurances post extradition. I have personally witnessed countries permit extraditions on the basis of assurances and when these promises were broken, there was nothing the country could do.
“The United States does not take kindly to being told what to do and any assurances made to the British courts are likely to be promptly disregarded as soon as Assange steps on a plane. The US knows full well that the UK would not break diplomatic ties or treaties, even if the US breached their promises.
“We should not rely on the US to abandon the indictments against Julian Assange when the UK has all of the power, justification and authority to deny the extradition right now. Assange has already been subjected to pre-trial detention in appalling conditions where he has been denied access to the outside world.
“Julian Assange is the only one paying for the crimes that he exposed. It is time we united against State led persecution and the abuse of our extradition treaties. The Judges have more than enough justification to deny the extradition and should feel confident enough to finally set him free”.