Consortium News will be back inside the courtroom in London July 9-10 to cover Julian Assange’s appeal against extradition. Help us bring you news of his fate.
Royal Courts of Justice where Assange’s appeal will take place July 9-10 (Joe Lauria)
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
The judges in Julian Assange’s two-day appeal hearing on July 9-10 are the same who granted Assange a rare victory last month: his right to appeal the Home Office’s extradition order to the United States.
Justices Jeremy Johnson and Victoria Sharp granted Assange the right to appeal on only two of nine requested grounds, but they are significant:
1). his extradition was incompatible with his free speech rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights; and 2.) that he might be prejudiced because of his nationality (not being given 1st Amendment protection as a non-American).
However the denial of his rights in an American courtroom would go beyond the First Amendment to all of his U.S. constitutional rights, according to the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in USAID v. Alliance for Open Society International Inc., which says that a non-U.S. citizen acting outside the U.S. has no constitutional protections at all.
The United States was unable to provide assurances that the European equivalent of his constitutional rights would be protected, required under British extradition law. That raises hopes for Assange in his appeal.
Assange has been imprisoned in London’s notorious Belmarsh Prison for more than five years on remand pending the outcome of his extradition. He has been charged in the United States for publishing classified documents that revealed prima facie evidence of U.S. state crimes.
CN has received an award and many accolades for our coverage of the Julian Assange case. We will be inside the courtroom and outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London for both days of the hearing, bringing you the latest news, analysis and commentary.
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Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and other newspapers, including The Montreal Gazette, the London Daily Mail and The Star of Johannesburg. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London, a financial reporter for Bloomberg News and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times. He is the author of two books, A Political Odyssey, with Sen. Mike Gravel, foreword by Daniel Ellsberg; and How I Lost By Hillary Clinton, foreword by Julian Assange. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @unjoe
One possibility is that despite these same judges hearing the case all over again there is one possible difference that could lead to hope. Recall the speculation that having asked for assurances they were awakened and embarrassed by the stupid non-assurance given by the US. This perhaps could lead to a different outcome–a release from being extradited at all–if they will put aside politics and truly act as guardians of justice.
Although the humanity shown here to save the man’s mortal body is commendable, I think we can all agree the message has been sent and received.
Power will prevail, and truth is unimportant as it can be obscured.
Thank you Joe for continuing to be the best source of accurate and legal information. This remains true to every facet of Julian’s case as well as all articles from you and Consortium News.
this is deeply deeply shameful for us in UK/please please let Right finally prevail
Joe Biden—
there is no reason for you to attempt to kill Julian Assange. He did nothing wrong, but I do clearly understand the lack of many in government who do not care about TRUTH TELLERS. That is a pity, because all that America is right now is a sad pretender to TRUTH.
Between you and Trump, America has turned into a shadow of what it could be. So, if you want to leave a true legacy —— FREE JULIAN ASSANGE. We need at least one truth teller in America. We have all read his words and see what his intent is—-a way to make America a real nation, as it once was—but oh so long ago. Free
Julian Assange—- and let America be the nation that can change the world for the betterment of all. –
Thank you CN for being one of a few reporting from the right side of the history. Life would be a misery without your voice.
CN will stand tall in the future when asking “what did you write about Julian Assange , the wars and all hypocrisy
when it happened in realtime?
Very true claes.
FREE JULIAN ASSANGE
Hopefully these Judges will do their due diligence and give Julian his freedom – he should never have been incarcerated in the first place – and the US government has no right keeping him detained for any reason! FREE ASSANGE!
I really like most of the people who comment on CN – thank your all for giving me hope! I wish that I could have some of you as friends…
Me too susan. I am bereft of any intelligent discussion about all the main issues facing humanity, the planet and its flora and fauna. I hear so many people say they do not watch/listen/read any news. How selfish and self-centred.
Thank You Joe
Yes, thank you. Joe Lauria and CN: an organisation that that continues to be the go to place for up to date news and info regarding Julian Assange. FIVE years on remand. Unbelievable.