Judges to Decide Whether Assange Can Appeal Against Extradition as He Reaches 1,000 Days in Jail
upstart writes:
Judges to decide whether Assange can appeal against extradition as he reaches 1,000 days in jail:
High Court judges are expected to decide within weeks whether to grant WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange leave to appeal to the UK Supreme Court against a decision allowing his extradition to the US.
Ian Duncan Burnett, who is the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and Lord Justice Holroyd are expected to decide whether to grant Assange leave to appeal extradition before the end of January.
The 50 year old today marked his 1,000th day in Belmarsh high security prison in South East London fighting extradition, and faces a maximum of 175 years in jail in the US if the extradition goes ahead - though prosecutors argue that jail time is likely to be lower.
Assange has been charged with 17 counts under the US Espionage Act 1917 for receiving and publishing classified government documents, and one count under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Assange's defence lawyers and press organisations argue that the case would set a precedent that would have a chilling effect on the freedom of the press if Assange is extradited, exposing journalists to the threat of extradition for publishing government documents.
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