To be extradited to Sweden
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has lost his UK Supreme Court fight against extradition to Sweden to face accusations of sex offences.
Lord Phillips, the court's president, said a majority of five justices to two had ruled against Mr Assange and said that the extradition request was lawful. Assange has 14 days to challenge the ruling and his solicitor, Gareth Peirce, said his lawyers would be asking the court to have another think about it.
Assange, who has been on conditional bail in the UK, faces charges of “surprise sex” in Sweden which losely translates as being the world's worst date. He claims he was set up by the US who want to smear him and then extradite him from Sweden on charges of spying. Assange's legal team think they lost because the judgement from the UK's highest court is based on a point which was neither heard nor argued in the case.
The key legal question was if the Swedish prosecutor who issued it had the "judicial authority" to do so under the 2003 Extradition Act. Lord Phillips said five of the seven Supreme Court justices had agreed the warrant was lawful because the prosecutor could be considered a proper "judicial authority" even if this was not specifically mentioned in legislation or international agreements.
Published in
Latest
Nick Farrell
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view itLatest from Nick Farrell