Only Civil Pressure Can Prevent Assange's Extradition To US - Former Ecuadorian Consul

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2022) Former Ecuadorian consul in the UK Fidel Narvaez welcomed on Monday a High Court decision granting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange permission to appeal to the Supreme Court, but argued that only increasing "civil pressure" can prevent his extradition to the US.

Earlier on Monday, the London High Court gave the Australian journalist permission to ask the Supreme Court to consider an appeal relating to his extradition to the US, but said it was up to the judges to decide whether they would hear the case.

"British judges will never willingly rule against his extradition, so only the continuing pressure from the civil society in the UK and abroad, human rights organizations and the media could influence on their decision," Narvaez told Sputnik.

According to the former diplomat, who was Assange's main liaison during part of the seven years the WikiLeaks founder spent holed up inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, his lawyers alone will have little chance to win "this political case," because the UK justice system "responds to the US establishment."

Although Narvaez saw Monday�s ruling as another step in Assange's long and difficult quest against the UK justice system, he said that it would be "shameful" for the Supreme Court not to accept the appeal.

Assange is wanted by the United States on espionage charges after WikiLeaks published thousands of classified documents that shed light on the actions of 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 WikiLeaks founder 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 2012, instead of appearing in court as his bail conditions demanded, Assange sought shelter in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he remained until 2019 over concerns that he might otherwise end up extradited to the US.

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.