UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has signed an order to extradite Julian Assange to the US to face espionage charges.
The WikiLeaks founder has been at the centre of a protracted legal fight for more than a decade. Next week marks 10 years since he took refuge at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid being extradited to the US.
The Australian, 50, is now being held at Belmarsh prison in London. He was held on a series of charges related to WikiLeaks’ publication of a trove of classified documents.
A Home Office representative said: “Under the Extradition Act 2003, the Secretary of State must sign an extradition order if there are no grounds to prohibit the order being made. Extradition requests are only sent to the Home Secretary once a judge decides it can proceed after considering various aspects of the case.
“On 17 June, following consideration by both the Magistrates’ Court and High Court, the extradition of Mr Julian Assange to the US was ordered. Mr Assange retains the normal 14-day right to appeal.
“The Home Secretary is condoning not only the criminality committed by the US government against Julian, but also those US government crimes exposed by WikiLeaks, said Mr.Assange’s wife Stella.
“Julian is a political prisoner. We will use every avenue to appeal this decision. I will dedicate every waking hour to fight for justice until he is free.”
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