Julian Assange’s wife, Stella, said this Tuesday in London, where a hearing on her husband’s extradition is being held, that The trial is based on “a politically motivated persecution”. Surrounded by protesters, at the door of the High Court of Justice in London, the Australian’s partner, who is not present at the trial due to illness, reported on the last hour in the hearing on the legal appeal to prevent the handover of Assange to the United States. Joined. Stella Assange, who already made a speech prior to the start of the session, stressed that the outcome of this case will determine what happens “when someone exposes the crimes of a State.”

“The United States is abusing its judicial system to harass, chase and intimidate us all“he said. In addition, the Australian’s wife complained that at the beginning of the session she was not allowed access to the main room, but was placed in an adjoining room, from which the attendees could not hear anything because the sound “failed constantly.”

“If this is how we practice open justice, I don’t have a lot of confidence in the judicial system here,” he protested. Also during the recess of the session, Kristinn Hrafnsson, current director of WikiLeaks, announced that this Wednesday, at the end of the second session of the hearing, they will go to Downing Street, where the British Prime Minister’s residence is located, to “make our voice heard and this farce about the freedom of Julian Assange”.

This Tuesday, Assange began the presentation of his last legal appeal in the United Kingdom against his extradition to the United States. The US is claiming the Australian for espionage due to the revelations published in 2010 and 2011 through its WikiLeaks portal, where classified information was displayed that revealed violations of human rights in the North American country in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If the court does not authorize him to appeal the extradition order taken on June 6, 2023 by Judge Jonathan Swift, The mechanism for Assange’s delivery to the United States would be activatedin which case their lawyers have already announced that they will request urgent precautionary measures from the European Court of Human Resources (ECHR) to avoid it.

Is extradition legal?

But can the United Kingdom extradite Assange to the US? According to the former CIA analyst who is a refugee in Russia, Edward Snowden, no, because the crime he is accused of is political and This contradicts the extradition agreements in force between London and Washington. “The scandalous thing about the ‘trial’ that has been going on for years in the United Kingdom to condemn Julian Assange to die in an American dungeon is that the victim of his ‘crime’ (journalism) is a State and not a person,” he said. written on the social network

Snowden, who has lived in Russia since revealing details of US spy programs in 2013, has criticized those who condemn the death of the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, while remaining silent about Assange. “To all the political leaders and journalists who speak out and write speeches: you can no longer save Navalni. But they can still save Assange. If they remain silent now, when they can really influence the result, then they never defended the principles and only expected applause,” he concluded. The former American analyst, who received Russian citizenship and whose whereabouts are unknown, has maintained silence about the war in Ukraine and about Navalni’s death.