US appeal against Assange extradition rejection begins in London

London, Oct 27 (EFE).- The High Court in London on Wednesday began hearing an appeal by the United States against a ruling by a British court to deny the extradition of Julian Assange, the founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, to the US.

Assange, who is currently in prison pending the appeal, is accused by US authorities of leaking thousands of confidential documents.

A court in Westminster in January denied the US’ extradition request over concerns about Assange’s mental health and the risk of suicide if he were extradited.

Assange was arrested in the UK in 2019 after spending seven years as a refugee in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avoid being handed over to Sweden, which wanted to question him for sexual offenses that he denied and that were later withdrawn, for fear of being extradited from the Scandinavian country to the US.

The WikiLeaks founder, who is imprisoned in the high-security prison at Belmarsh in London, faces 18 charges in the US in connection with the leaks of thousands of confidential documents related to the US military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan and hacking. EFE

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