Day X has begun for Australian journalist Julian Assange, the man behind Wikileaks. After seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy, Assange has been imprisoned in London's Belmarsh prison since 2004. Years of hardship has significantly impaired Assange's physical and mental abilities.
The journalist faces a real risk of extradition to the United States: if he is sent there, he could face up to 175 years in prison on espionage charges for publishing extremely secret military and diplomatic documents about the actions of the US government in the event of war in Yemen, Afghanistan, and Iraq, as well as the mistreatment that occurred in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Westminster magistrates approved the extradition as early as April of last year, and his attorneys immediately started working to reverse the ruling. The match will now take place on February 20 and 21, 2024, in conjunction with a public hearing at the English High Court. During this hearing, two justices will examine an earlier decision that denied Assange's request to appeal.
This may be the UK's final opportunity to prevent Assange's extradition. Numerous protests are scheduled to take place in various places throughout the globe. In London, a rally was announced outside the English High Court building at 8:30 a.m. The legal team representing the journalist will have a mere twenty pages to explain their case.
Assange's attorneys will file an appeal with the Court of Human Rights if the English court denies the appeal request; however, they would not be able to do so until after the US authorities ask for the journalist's urgent extradition. As Secretary of State Antony Blinken skillfully hinted in July, the Assange issue is a thorn in the side of the US government that might harm the nation's reputation, while omitting their appeal to not extradite their colleague. And if all of that wasn't enough, Assange's hearing is scheduled for only two weeks before Super Tuesday—the day when the most states cast ballots to choose the Republican and Democratic nominees.
As of right now, only Robert Kennedy Jr. has publicly declared his opposition to Julian Assange among the Stars and Stripes contenders; he stated that he would pardon the journalist were he to win the presidency.