US Challenges Assange Extradition Block in UK Court

A demonstrator holds a placard outside the Royal Courts of Justice during a protest ahead of an appeal hearing over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition, in London, Britain, October 23, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson/File Photo
A demonstrator holds a placard outside the Royal Courts of Justice during a protest ahead of an appeal hearing over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition, in London, Britain, October 23, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson/File Photo
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US Challenges Assange Extradition Block in UK Court

A demonstrator holds a placard outside the Royal Courts of Justice during a protest ahead of an appeal hearing over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition, in London, Britain, October 23, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson/File Photo
A demonstrator holds a placard outside the Royal Courts of Justice during a protest ahead of an appeal hearing over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition, in London, Britain, October 23, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Nicholson/File Photo

The US government will on Wednesday appeal against a British judge's decision to block the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face trial for publishing military secrets.

At a two-day hearing, Washington will ask the High Court to overturn District Judge Vanessa Baraitser's January ruling that Assange is a serious suicide threat if extradited across the Atlantic, AFP reported.

The United States has said it was "extremely disappointed" at her decision, arguing the judge "didn't appreciate the weight" of expert evidence that said Assange was not at risk of suicide.

Its lawyers have argued Baraitser was "misled" in evidence from Assange's psychiatric expert Michael Kopelman, who they claim concealed things such as that his client had fathered children while holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

During a preliminary hearing in August, the High Court granted the US government's request to appeal against the ruling on five grounds.

Whatever the court's two senior judges decide, months if not years of further legal wrangling loom.

If the US appeal is successful, the case will be sent back to a lower court for a new decision. And whoever loses can also ask for permission for a further, final appeal to the UK's Supreme Court.

- Indicted -
Assange, 50, was arrested in Britain in 2019 for jumping bail after spending seven years inside the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden where he faced allegations of sexual assault. These were later dropped.

Despite his extradition being blocked, he has been denied bail pending the outcome of the US appeal, amid fears he would abscond.

He is being held at London's high-security Belmarsh Prison, which his fiancée Stella Moris -- a former member of his legal team who is the mother of his two young boys -- this week branded "a terrible environment".

Assange is wanted in Washington to face 18 charges relating to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He has been indicted for violating the US espionage act and for hacking, based on the alleged assistance he provided former military intelligence officer Chelsea Manning in obtaining the documents from secure military computer systems.

If convicted in the US, he faces a maximum sentence of 175 years in jail.

Baraitser had said it was not clear that Washington would be able to ensure his safety in US prisons known for "harsh conditions" while he awaited trial.

She rejected US experts' testimony that Assange would be protected from self-harm, noting that others such as disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein had managed to kill themselves in custody.

- 'Not survive' -
Australian national Assange has a vocal campaign of supporters, led by Moris and his legal team.

Moris said on Monday that she had visited Assange in prison last weekend and was shocked by how thin he looked.

"He was looking very unwell," she said. "The point was that Julian would not survive extradition, that was the conclusion of the judge."

Legal expert Carl Tobias, from the University of Richmond in Virginia, said there was "some chance" of the US winning its appeal.

"The US may be able to convince the High Court that Baraitser assigned too much weight" to the Kopelman report, he told AFP.

"However, even if the High Court agrees with the US contention that she accorded too substantial weight to the expert report, that may not be sufficient to warrant overruling her entire decision," he added.

Advocacy group Reporters Without Borders has urged President Joe Biden to drop the case, arguing the WikiLeaks founder has been "targeted for his contributions to public-interest reporting".

Assange sought, but failed, to obtain a pardon from Biden's predecessor Donald Trump, whose 2016 election campaign benefited from WikiLeaks' release of materials that damaged his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.



Peace Inches Forward in Türkiye as Parliament Eyes Cautious PKK Integration

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
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Peace Inches Forward in Türkiye as Parliament Eyes Cautious PKK Integration

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Turkish Presidency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday hailed a symbolic disarmament move by Kurdish militants as the beginning of a new chapter in the country’s decades-long fight against terrorism, but warned the process would not involve political bargaining.

Speaking at a ruling AK Party consultative meeting in Kızılcahamam, near Ankara, Erdogan said the gesture by a faction of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to lay down and burn its weapons marked “the dawn of a strong and great Türkiye.”

“With the end of a 47-year-old plague of terrorism now in sight, we are opening the doors to a new era,” Erdogan said. “The process ahead will uphold Türkiye’s dignity and respect the sensitivities of its people. No one will be allowed to compromise the honor of this nation.”

The symbolic surrender ceremony took place Friday near Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, a region long known to harbor PKK fighters.

While Erdogan stopped short of detailing next steps, Turkish sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that gradual legislative moves are expected in parliament starting this week. These may include reduced sentences or pardons for PKK members as part of the wider reconciliation effort.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has waged an insurgency since 1984 that has killed tens of thousands. Previous attempts at peace talks collapsed in 2015, triggering years of renewed violence.

Erdogan, who has increasingly adopted nationalist rhetoric, stressed that any future measures would be carefully calibrated. “This is not an open-ended negotiation. It is a national process conducted with resolve and clarity,” he said.

Erdogan on Saturday ruled out any political negotiations behind a symbolic disarmament move by Kurdish militants, insisting Türkiye’s ongoing campaign to eliminate terrorism is not the result of concessions or backroom deals.

“I want to make it absolutely clear that the ‘Terror-Free Türkiye initiative we are pursuing is not born of negotiations, bartering, or give-and-take,” Erdogan said in his speech to the ruling AK Party’s consultative gathering in Kızılcahamam.

“Let everyone rest assured: we will never allow the honor of the Republic of Türkiye to be violated. Türkiye will not bow down — and we will move forward with this understanding.”

His remarks came a day after a faction of the PKK held a public ceremony near Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, where fighters laid down and burned their weapons in what supporters described as a symbolic gesture rather than full surrender.

Pro-PKK figures said the act was meant to preserve the “dignity of the armed struggle,” and called on Turkish authorities to permit Kurdish political participation and release jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999.

Erdogan on Saturday also outlined the next phase in the country’s push to end nearly five decades of Kurdish militancy, saying a parliamentary committee would be formed to examine the legal framework for disarming the PKK.

“We hope the Turkish parliament will support the process with a constructive and facilitative approach,” Erdogan said during a speech to members of his ruling AK Party in Kızılcahamam.

“With the end of terrorism, the Republic of Türkiye will emerge stronger and more self-confident than ever before,” Erdogan said. “We will redirect our energy toward development and prosperity, rather than the fight against terrorism.”

The president vowed to expedite the process while honoring national sensitivities. “We will closely monitor the disarmament step by step. As the terrorist group lays down its arms, Türkiye will grow in fraternity, deepen its democracy, and move into the future with greater stability and security,” he said.