UK court formally issues order to extradite Julian Assange to US

LONDON: A UK court on Wednesday issued a formal order to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face trial over the publication of secret files relating to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The decision now rests with interior minister Priti Patel, although Assange’s lawyers may still appeal to the High Court if she approves the extradition.
The procedural step, in what has been a long-running and high-profile legal battle, was announced at a hearing in central London following a March decision to deny Australian-born Assange permission to appeal against his extradition.
The extradition order must now be signed by Patel, after which Assange can try to challenge the decision by judicial review. A judicial review involves a judge examining the legitimacy of a public body’s decision.
Assange, 50, is wanted in the United States on 18 criminal charges, including breaking a spying law, after WikiLeaks published thousands of secret US files in 2010.
He denies any wrongdoing.
Assange has been in a southeast London jail since 2019, and before that was holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in the British capital for seven years.