UK court issues order to extradite Julian Assange to US where he faces 175-year sentence

A London Court in a hearing on Wednesday issued the extradition order for WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange to the US and now he is set to be tried there on Espionage Act charges for his role in publishing thousands of classified documents that shed light on the atrocities committed by American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If put on trial and convicted in the US, Assange may be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.

The court issued the extradition order, leaving UK Home Secretary Priti Patel to rubber-stamp his transfer to the US after a years-long legal wrangle. Assange is able to appeal the decision.

The hearing was held in a virtual manner. Assange joined the hearing from the high-security Belmarsh Prison in London, where he has been held since being dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London three years ago, reported CNN News.

Assange has been on remand at the Belmarsh maximum-security prison in southeast London since October 2020, after serving an 11-month sentence for breaking bail conditions.

In January 2021 court gave a ruling that the Australian journalist cannot be extradited to the US due to health issues and the inhumane conditions he might face in the US prison system.

However, overturning the earlier ruling, the London High Court in December 2021 ruled in favour of the US appeal to extradite Assange.

( With inputs from ANI )