Assange Vows to Fight UK Approval of Extradition to US

Posters, badges and leaflets picturing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are displayed on a table in front of the Home Office building, in London, on May 17, 2022, during a demonstration to protest against the extradition of Assange. (AFP)
Posters, badges and leaflets picturing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are displayed on a table in front of the Home Office building, in London, on May 17, 2022, during a demonstration to protest against the extradition of Assange. (AFP)
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Assange Vows to Fight UK Approval of Extradition to US

Posters, badges and leaflets picturing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are displayed on a table in front of the Home Office building, in London, on May 17, 2022, during a demonstration to protest against the extradition of Assange. (AFP)
Posters, badges and leaflets picturing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange are displayed on a table in front of the Home Office building, in London, on May 17, 2022, during a demonstration to protest against the extradition of Assange. (AFP)

Supporters of Julian Assange on Friday vowed to fight his extradition to the United States after Britain approved a US request for the WikiLeaks founder to face trial over the publication of secret military files.

"We're not at the end of the road here. We're going to fight this. We're going to use every appeal avenue," Stella Assange, who married the Australian publisher earlier this year, told reporters.

His lawyer, Jen Robinson, urged US President Joe Biden to drop the charges and called on the Australian government to press for her client's release.

"We will appeal this all the way through the British courts and if necessary to the European Court of Human Rights," she added.

The Assange case has become a cause celebre for media freedom and his supporters accuse Washington of trying to muzzle reporting of legitimate security concerns.

He is wanted to face trial for violating the US Espionage Act by publishing military and diplomatic files in 2010 and could face up to 175 years in jail if found guilty, although the exact sentence is difficult to estimate.

The UK interior ministry earlier announced that Home Secretary Priti Patel had approved the extradition order but that he had 14 days to appeal.

'Dark day'

That sets up yet another court hearing in the long-running legal saga, which began in 2010 after WikiLeaks published more than 500,000 classified US documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

His supporters have held frequent rallies to protest the planned deportation, accusing Washington of a politically motivated campaign as Assange, 50, had exposed US war crimes and a cover-up.

WikiLeaks said the decision was a "dark day for press freedom and for British democracy" and alleged that Assange had been on a CIA hit-list.

"Julian did nothing wrong. He has committed no crime and is not a criminal. He is a journalist and a publisher, and he is being punished for doing his job," the group said in a statement.

Extradition was a work of "revenge" and an attempt to "try to disappear him into the darkest recesses of their prison system for the rest of his life to deter others from holding governments to account".

Amnesty International said the government's approval of the extradition "sends a chilling message" to journalists and exposed Assange to torture and ill-treatment if he were kept in solitary confinement.

The human rights monitor's secretary-general Agnes Callamard said diplomatic assurances that he would be well treated were not to be trusted, she added.

No grounds

The Home Office, however, said there were no grounds for Patel to block the extradition order, which was made on April 20.

"In this case, the UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr. Assange," a spokesperson said.

"Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the US he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health."

Legal experts said Assange's decision to appeal sets up potentially months of legal hearings.

He would first need permission to appeal from the High Court. If that was granted, the hearing might not be until early next year.

"He could also make an application to the European Court of Human Rights," said Kate Goold, an extradition lawyer at London firm Bindmans.

'Lengthy process'

"Once you get to the European Court of Human Rights, it's a very, very slow process," added another specialist Rebecca Niblock, from lawyers Kingsley Napley.

"Extradition is a very lengthy process and it is very unlikely that this will be the end of it."

Assange has been held on remand at a top-security jail in southeast London since 2019 for jumping bail in a previous case accusing him of sexual assault in Sweden.

That case was dropped but he was not released from prison after serving time for breaching bail on the grounds he was a flight risk in the US extradition case.

His supporters have tried to secure his release and block his extradition on the grounds that he was a suicide risk if held in punishing isolation in US custody.

Assange, who got married behind bars in March, spent seven years at Ecuador's embassy in London to avoid being removed to Sweden.

He was arrested when the government changed in Quito and his diplomatic protection was removed.



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.