Julian Assange appeared today by video link before Westminster Magistrates’ Court where he was informed that he would be remanded in custody for the duration of extradition proceedings against him. Mr Assange is currently serving a 50-week sentence of imprisonment at Belmarsh prison for an offence of failing to surrender to custody, contrary to section […]
Today, 30 May 2019, Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot, Chief Magistrate, held Julian Assange’s case management hearing. This was a routine administrative hearing which was organised after the US added 17 more charges to Mr Assange’s indictment. Mr Assange was due to appear at the hearing via video link from Belmarsh prison, however his solicitor […]
Last week it was announced that the US judicial authorities would be bringing 17 more charges against Julian Assange. The 17 new counts on the indictment relate to endangering US national security by conspiring, with Chelsea Manning, to obtain and disclose classified government records under the US Espionage Act of 1917. Swedish judicial authorities have […]
This week WikiLeaks’ Chief Editor, Kristinn Hrafnsson, was interviewed about Julian Assange’s extradition case. In the interview, Mr Hrafnsson warned that any devices seized after Mr Assange’s arrest are likely to have been tampered with by US authorities. Mr Hrafnsson’s interview was scheduled after it was reported that Mr Assange’s personal belongings, including electronic devices, […]
Breach of bail sentencing hearing On 1 May 2019, at Southwark Crown Court, Mr Assange was given a custodial sentence of 50 weeks for failing to surrender to bail in September 2012. The sentence was 2 weeks shorter than the maximum. During the sentencing hearing, Mr Assange’s lawyers made detailed submissions relating to: • the […]
It is reported that Sweden wanted to withdraw its extradition request for Julian Assange in 2013, but was dissuaded by the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service. Mr Assange has been confined to the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012. Sweden’s Director of Public Prosecutions Marianne Ny is said to have written to the CPS in 2013 […]
On 3 June 2015, it was reported that France has refused to grant Julian Assange asylum. Mr Assange has denied making the request. The original report published in the French newspaper, Le Monde, is here (French language). In an open letter written to President François Hollande, Mr Assange reportedly requested asylum in France, as a […]
New Zealand Supreme Court Rules in “test case which the international community was watching closely” On 13 April 2022, a five-strong panel in the New Zealand Supreme Court (“NZSC”) handed down judgment in the case of Minister of Justice v Kyung Yup Kim [2022] NZSC 44.[1] The key question for the court was whether Mr […]
Senior District Judge Emma Arbuthnot, the Chief Magistrate, sitting at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 28 January 2021, rejected the arguments put forward by Arif Naqvi’s legal team against his extradition and ordered the case to be sent to the Secretary of State for a decision as to whether he should be extradited. Mr Naqvi, the […]
Ever since the UK and US agreed new extradition arrangements in 2003 they have been a constant source of anxiety and debate about whether the Treaty, or the way it is operated, leads somehow to an unfair imbalance that makes it easier for the US to extradite suspects from the UK than vice versa. Even […]