US Government Rejects Australia’s Call To End Assange Case, Submits 'Assurances' For Extradition

Faced with a deadline set by the British High Court of Justice, the United States Embassy in London submitted “assurances” to potentially avoid an appeal in the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. 

The assurances come days after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Australia government asked the U.S. to offer Assange, an Australian citizen, a “felony plea deal” that would allow him to return home.

Instead of ending the case, the U.S. State Department provided a diplomatic note to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that contained assurances related to issues raised by Assange’s legal team and upheld by the High Court. The issues involve the First Amendment and the risk of the death penalty.

“Assange will not be prejudiced by reason of nationality with respect to which defenses he may seek to raise at trial and at sentencing,” the U.S. Embassy in London claimed. “Specifically, if extradited, Assange will have the ability to raise and seek to rely upon at trial (which includes any sentencing hearing) the rights and protections given under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.”