In a Friday ruling that may lead to Julian Assange facing criminal charges in the U.S., a London appellate court opened the door for the WikiLeaks founder’s extradition. In 2019, Assange was indicted by the Justice Department with 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act in 2010 for his role in publishing leaked U.S. military secrets related to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, charges that have alarmed press freedom advocates. Since then, Assange has been on the run, spending years confined inside the walls of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid prosecution in the U.S.

Chants of “Free Julian Assange” and “no extradition” were shouted by protesters who gathered outside the courthouse and held signs that read “journalism is not a crime.” Critics of the U.S. effort against Assange claim that the DOJ’s prosecution could severely cripple press freedoms around the world, given that the charges came after the WikiLeaks founder exposed alleged war crimes committed during the Iraq invasion. In one of the most notorious videos published by WikiLeaks in its 2010 document dump, U.S. Apache attack helicopters can be seen indiscriminately firing at a crowd in Baghdad and killing several civilians, including two Reuters news staff.

Though Assange isn’t a traditional publisher, like, say, The New York Times, charging him under the Espionage Act for publishing government secrets could be a slippery slope in which more mainstream outlets are similarly prosecuted. “The U.S. government itself is endangering the ability of the media to bring to light uncomfortable truths and expose official crimes and cover-ups,” read a Friday editorial in The Guardian, one of the first outlets to publish revelations from the WikiLeaks cache. “The decision is not only a blow for his family and friends, who fear he would not survive imprisonment in the U.S.,” added Guardian editors. “It is also a blow for all those who wish to protect the freedom of the press.”

“Doesn’t matter whether Assange is a journalist—this case will have far-reaching implications for press freedom,” tweeted Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “The Trump admin should never have filed the indictment, and the Biden admin should withdraw it.” Jaffer’s organization has been part of a coalition of civil liberties and human rights groups—including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and Human Rights Watch—that earlier this year urged the Biden administration not to extradite and prosecute Assange. On Friday, Ben Wizner, the director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, said “this indictment criminalizes investigative journalism.”

While a lower U.K. court had previously refused to green light the DOJ’s extradition request, with the judge warning that Assange suffers from “a recurrent depressive disorder” that could result in him at risk of self-harm or dying by suicide if he is subjected to U.S. prison conditions, Judge Timothy Holroyde of the country’s High Court has just superseded that ruling. Holroyde noted that the U.S. has assured him that Assange will not be held in a maximum security holding facility. The 50-year-old Assange, who is currently confined inside Belmarsh Prison in London, will appeal the High Court’s decision and take it up with the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court. 

Barry Pollack, an attorney representing Assange, released a statement confirming his plans to appeal the ruling. “It is highly disturbing that a U.K. court has overturned a decision not to extradite Julian Assange, accepting vague assurances by the United States government. Mr. Assange will seek review of this decision by the U.K. Supreme Court." Stella Moris, Assange’s fiancée, expressed her outrage toward the High Court in comments to reporters. “How can it be fair, how can it be right, how can it be possible, to extradite Julian to the very country which plotted to kill him?” Moris said, referencing an alleged CIA plot to kidnap or assassinate Assange during Donald Trump’s tenure as commander in chief. “We will appeal this decision at the earliest possible moment.”

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