The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assangehis future is at stake in some hearings that started this Tuesday and that may mean his last chance to avoid extradition to the United States, where he is accused of the massive leak of secret documents. Several hundred people have demanded his freedom before the High Court in London, where two judges must decide whether Assange can appeal his case in the United Kingdom or if he is extradited to the North American country.

This is the Assange’s last legal recourse in the United Kingdom against his extradition to the US, which claims the Australian for espionage due to the revelations published in 2010 and 2011 on its WikiLeaks portal, where classified information was published that revealed human rights violations by the country in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If the court does not authorize you to appeal the extradition order adopted by Judge Jonathan Swift, the mechanism of delivery of Assange to the USin which case his lawyers have already announced that they will go to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to avoid it.

Assange was arrested in the United Kingdom in April 2019 after almost seven years held in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The programmer initially took refuge in said diplomatic legation to avoid his possible extradition to Sweden, where he also was being investigatedand fearing that it was a first step towards his transfer to the United States.

Subsequently, the British Government authorized Assange’s transfer to the North American country in June 2022, but the founder of WikiLeaks try to exhaust all possible avenues to avoid it. The case is now in the hands of the Superior Court, with hearings this Tuesday and Wednesday. The outcome of this new chapter will depend on whether Assange can have new opportunities to defend her case before the British Justice or whether the process is elevated to the ECtHR.

Campaign to request his release

In this context, in recent days his entourage has relaunched the campaign to demand his releasecalling for protests in different cities, and the Australian Parliament last week demanded that the American and British governments release the programmer so that he can return to his country of origin.

The British Executive, however, has raised its profile in recent years and, beyond the approval of extradition, has left Assange’s future in the hands of the courts, in an apparent attempt to avoid political controversies or put him at risk. its relations with the United States.

About Assange, who according to his lawyers has suffered a drastic worsening of your physical and mental health In recent years, he faces a battery of charges for violating the US Espionage Act and risks a sentence of up to 175 years in prison in a maximum security prison. NGOs such as Amnesty International fear for their own safety, but also for the “deterrent effect” that a conviction would have for the press around the world.