Julian Assange får anke beslutning om utlevering til USA
Dommen har falt. Mandag 20. mai ble det klart at Julian Assange får anke dommen om utlevering til USA. – Svært gode nyheter, men vi forventer løslatelse i påvente av ny høring, sier Rune Ottosen, leder for Norsk PENs Assange-utvalg, som var til stede i High Court i London.
Ottosen beskriver gledesscener utenfor rettshuset etter høringen.
– Dagens avgjørelse var riktig og viktig, og vi er svært glade for at dette ble utfallet. Men samtidig betyr det ny ventetid i fengsel under vanskelig soningsforhold, og veien til frihet kan fortsatt være lang for Assange. Vi må derfor fortsette å kjempe for Assange og pressefriheten, sier Ottosen.
Norsk PEN var til stede i rettssalen sammen med representanter fra PEN International og Engelsk PEN.
Felles uttalelse fra Norsk PEN, PEN International og Engelsk PEN:
UK/US: RENEWED CALL FOR FREEDOM AS ASSANGE GRANTED PERMISSION TO APPEAL HIS EXTRADITION
20 May 2024: Julian Assange has been granted permission to appeal his extradition to the US, where he faces up to up 175 years in prison and would be at risk of serious human rights violations. Representatives of PEN International, English PEN, and PEN Norway observed the hearing.
Responding to the news, PEN International and the undersigned PEN Centres said:
“Today’s decision by the UK High Court is a crucial step in our years-long campaign to free Julian Assange. It is a stepping stone in ensuring that Assange is freed, a small victory for press freedom, and a beacon of hope for whistleblowers worldwide.
No one should be punished for exposing wrongdoing and holding the powerful to account. By providing Assange with further opportunity to defend himself, the court has acknowledged that the assurances provided by the U.S. government are not sufficient for the extradition to be approved.
As the implications of this decision reverberate globally, reminding us of the critical importance of defending free speech, we remain acutely aware that Assange’s fight for freedom continues.
The US authorities’ judicial harassment of Assange must stop at once. We urge them to drop all charges against Assange and to withdraw their extradition request. The UK authorities must release him from prison immediately and refrain from extraditing him.
We continue to stand with Assange and all the writers, journalists, and publishers around the world who courageously speak truth to power.”
Signatories
PEN International
English PEN
PEN Norway
Background information
In a decision handed down by the UK High Court on 20 May 2024, a panel of two judges granted Assange “legal appeal on grounds 4 (violation of free speech rights) and 5 (prejudiced at trial due to nationality) on all counts on the second superseding indictment”. While Assange was given permission to attend the hearing in person, he was not in court due to health reasons.
On 26 March 2024, following a two-day public hearing held in February and attended by representatives of PEN International, English PEN and PEN Norway, the UK High Court adjourned Assange’s permission to appeal his extradition order, on the grounds that his extradition would breach his right to freedom of expression, that he might be prejudiced on account on his nationality, and that he might potentially face the death penalty. The US was subsequently granted more time to make diplomatic assurances.
Assange is the first publisher to be charged under the US Espionage Act. He is an honorary member of several PEN Centres.
For more information about PEN International’s years-long campaign for Julian Assange, please see please see War, Censorship and Persecution, PEN International’s Case List 2023/2024, which documents 122 cases of persecuted writers worldwide, including Assange.
