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Wikileaks’ Julian Assange lost his appeal against extradition to Sweden

Assange Loses Appeal, New Matilda.com , By Paul Farrell, 3 Nov 11 The UK High Court has rejected all four grounds in Julian Assange’s appeal against extradition to Sweden. Paul Farrell reports from the media circus in London on the reasons for the decision

Julian Assange has lost his UK High Court appeal against extradition to Sweden.

The UK High Court rejected all four of Assange’s appeal grounds and is now awaiting a further submission from his counsel to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court……

despite the rejection on all appeal grounds Assange and his supporters remained determined and optimistic. In a brief statement after the verdict Assange said:

“I have not been charged with any crime in any country. Despite this the European arrest warrant is so restrictive that it prevents UK courts from considering the facts of a case, as judges have made clear here today.”

“No doubt there will be many attempts to try and spin these proceedings as they occur today but they are merely technical.”

Assange’s legal argument had four main grounds for appeal, and each was considered and rejected by the court (read the full judgement here). The first was that a “judicial authority” did not issue the European Arrest Warrant for the purposes of the Extradition Act 2003……

The court also ordered Assange to pay costs totalling £19,000, which his counsel said he will contest. While this may seem like a relatively small amount in comparison to some judicial proceedings, Wikileaks is already struggling financially and this will certainly be a concern for Assange.

Assange has 14 days to seek leave to appeal, and the High Court justices suggested a tentative hearing in about three weeks time to determine whether or not they should grant leave for appeal to the Supreme Court.

For leave to be granted there must be “a point of law of general public importance involved in the decision”, according to s 32 of the Extradition Act 2003. Assange’s legal team did not immediately assert grounds for appeal, so it remains to be seen on what grounds this point of law will be argued…..

http://newmatilda.com/2011/11/03/assange-loses-extradition-appeal

November 3, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK