The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has won a victory in the judicial process on his extradition to the United States on Monday.
The British High Court has granted the Australian publisher the right to appeal against this possible extradition before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.
However, Assange has not received permission to file a direct appeal, which means that the Supreme Court will have to rule on whether he agrees to hear the appeal, as reported by the British television channel Sky News.
The United States claims Assange for 18 charges, which include alleged crimes of conspiracy and espionage, and which can carry up to 175 years in prison.
Had he lost the right to appeal, the case would have gone directly to Home Secretary Priti Patel for a final decision on his extradition.
However, the right has been guaranteed because it is a matter of “general public importance”.
The decision has been made known more than a year after a British court rejected for the first time and for health reasons the request of the United States to extradite the founder of Wikileaks, accused of espionage by the North American authorities for disseminating thousands of documents. official and secret through its portal.
On December 10, the British justice reversed the ruling of Judge Vanessa Baraitser and, after accepting the appeal of the United States, opened the door to Assange's extradition contemplating four conditions presented by Washington's lawyers.
Now, the Australian's legal team will be able to file an appeal against his surrender to US justice.
Assange is currently detained in Belmarsh maximum security prison, in south-east London, "in almost total isolation".
The Australian's defense has warned that his health has seriously deteriorated in recent years, the victim of a chain of accusations that originate from the documents leaked in 2010.
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