Alka Verma –
Published On: October 27, 2021 at 13:34 IST
On Wednesday, the United States (US) Government will file an appeal against an Order to suspend the extradition process of British Judge and Founder of WikiLeaks Julian Assange, who is facing trial for publishing Military Confidential data.
In this two-day hearing, the US Government will be asking the High Court to quash the decision of District Judge Vanessa Baritzer.
The decision of the District Judge states that Assange faces a serious suicide threat if he is extradited across the Atlantic.
About the decision of the District Judge, the US Government stated, ” It is extremely disappointed with the verdict. It did not appreciate the weight of the evidence, which said Assange was not at risk of suicide.”
Whereas, the Counsels for Assange argued that Baritzer was misled about the psychiatric condition of Assange.
In August, during a hearing, the High Court gave liberty to the US government to file an Appeal decision on five various grounds.
It is said that whatever the Senior Judges are going to decide regarding the Appeal, there will be more legal disputes in the upcoming months.
Moreover, if the Appeal of the US Government turns out to be successful, the case will be handed over back to the Lower Court for a fresh decision.
Adding to this, it is also said that the party who loses can seek permission to make a final appeal in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
Assange, who is the founder of WikiLeaks, came into the limelight in 2010 when the company published a series of leaks provided by the US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning.
These leaks also included the Baghdad airstrike Collateral Murder video, the Afghanistan war logs, the Iraq war logs, and Cablegate.
In 2010, Sweden also issued an arrest warrant against him after he was charged with rape and he was arrested in the UK in 2019.
Assange is one of the most wanted people in Washington. He is facing 18 charges, and if convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison.