UK court gives Assange a small reprieve

Dec 06, 2011 |

Age Corespondent

London

Julian Assange, founder of whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, won a small reprieve Monday as the high court ruled he can move the Supreme Court to seek permission to present his case against extradition to Sweden.

A two-judge bench comprising Lord Justice Sir John Thomas and Justice Ouseley said Mr Assange’s case raised a question of general public importance. Mr Assange, 40, has 14 days to present his case before the Supreme Court. This court will then rule if it wants to hear his petition against being extradited to Sweden to face charges of alleged rape, unlawful coercion and sexual molestation.
“The high court judges decided to allow Julian to present his argument before the Supreme Court and for the Supreme Court to decide whether they want to take on the case or not. They have the power to deny him the possibility, but the fact the high court allowed him to move the Supreme Court is a big victory for him and all of us working on the European arrest warrant issue,” Wikileaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson, an Icelandic journalist, told this newspaper outside the Royal Courts of Justice on Monday. A handful of antiwar activists and Assange supporters greeted the WikiLeaks founder with applause as he left the court.
Mr Assange, under house arrest since December 16, 2010 at Norfolk’s Ellingham Hall, moved the high court against the order that he be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations.

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