Make No Mistake, We Won In Court Today - Assange's Fiancee

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted permission to appeal his extradition to the US before the UK Supreme Court in a High Court decision that was celebrated as a victory by his fiancee, Stella Moris, on Monday

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2022) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted permission to appeal his extradition to the US before the UK Supreme Court in a High Court decision that was celebrated as a victory by his fiancee, Stella Moris, on Monday.

"Make no mistake, we won today in court," Moris told reporters outside the Royals Courts of Justice in central London shortly after the judges made the pronouncement.

Moris explained that the London High Court certified one of the points of law of general public concern that had been raised by the defense team, so that the Supreme Court has "good grounds" to hear the appeal.

"The situation now is that the Supreme Court has to decide whether it will hear the appeal," she elaborated, adding that "as long the case isn't dropped, as long as Julian isn't freed," the whistleblower will continue to suffer.

Assange is wanted by the United States on espionage charges after WikiLeaks published thousands of classified documents that shed light on actions of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If put on trial and convicted in the US, Assange might be sentenced to up to 175 years in prison.

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. Assange stayed in the Ecuadorian embassy in London from 2012 to 2019, when Ecuador revoked his asylum and let the UK police enter the embassy.

In December, the London High Court ruled in favor of the US appeal to extradite Assange, overturning an earlier decision 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.