UK decision to block Julian Assange extradition challenged by US lawyers

Lawyers acting on behalf of the US government on Wednesday challenged a British judge’s decision to block the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges in the United States, arguing that assessments of Assange’s mental health should be reviewed. The British judge ruled in January that Assange was likely to kill himself if held under harsh US prison conditions. 

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Clair Dobbin, lawyer of US authorities said that Judge Vanessa Baraister based her decision not to extradite Assange on a “predicted risk of suicide” rather than the risk at the time the matter was before her. 

Dobbin said both the ruling and the evaluations of psychiatrists needed to be scrutinised given the “extraordinary lengths” Assange went to before his arrest in London to avoid legal proceedings.

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Delivering the latest decision, Lord Justice Holroyde said “Given the importance to the administration of justice of a court being able to rely on the impartiality of an expert witness, it is in my view arguable that more detailed and critical consideration should have been given to why [the professor’s] ‘understandable human response’ gave rise to a misleading report.”

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Julian Assange has been indicted by US prosecutors on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over publication of thousands of leaked military and diplomatic documents a decade ago. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.