Norsk PEN observerer Julian Assanges høring 20. mai
Mandag 20. mai er det ny høring i utleveringssaken mot Wikileaks-redaktør Julian Assange i High Court i London. Leder for Norsk PENs Assange-utvalg, Rune Ottosen, vil være til stede i rettshuset.
Høringen vil avgjøre om Assange får flere muligheter til å anke avgjørelsen om utlevering til USA. Om han ikke får ankemulighet, vil han kunne bli utlevert. Saken vil i så fall sendes til Den europeiske menneskerettighetsdomstolen.
– Denne saken har pågått for lenge og er full av rettslige mangler. Om han ikke får ankemuligheter vil det være katastrofalt for Assange og for pressefriheten generelt. Vi har fortsatt et håp om at han går ut som en fri mann på mandag, og det vil være det eneste rette utfallet, sier Rune Ottosen.
Les felles uttalelse av Norsk PEN, PEN International og Engelsk PEN:
UK/USA: Press Freedom at Stake as Assange Extradition Decision Looms
‘Julian Assange has already spent five years behind bars, away from his loved ones, solely for publishing information in the public interest. His extradition would send an alarming signal to fellow publishers and journalists around the world that they too could risk the same fate. It is high time for the US to drop the charges and for the UK to set Assange free’, said Ma Thida, Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee.
16 May 2024: Julian Assange’s legal team will return to the UK High Court in London on 20 May, where a panel of two judges will decide whether to proceed with his extradition to the US or grant him permission to appeal. A decision is expected on the day. Representatives of PEN International, English PEN and PEN Norway will attend the public hearing in solidarity with Assange, reiterating calls for his immediate release and denouncing the chilling effect his prosecution and possible extradition have on media freedom worldwide.
Background information
If extradited to the US, Wikileaks founder and publisher Julian Assange would face trial on 17 counts under the Espionage Act and one count under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which combined could see him imprisoned for up to 175 years. Assange would further be at risk of serious human rights violations, as recently stressed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.
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 Court gave the UK and the US permission to file new diplomatic assurances – which the US subsequently provided – to be considered on 20 May. An application before the European Court of Human Rights remains a possibility should the Court rule to proceed with Assange’s extradition.
Assange is the first publisher to be charged under the US Espionage Act. PEN International has repeatedly urged the US authorities to drop all charges against Assange and withdraw their extradition request, stressing the risks his prosecution raises for press freedom worldwide. PEN International further calls on the UK authorities to refrain from extraditing Assange, to release him from Belmarsh prison immediately, and to ensure he is reunited with his family.
