Assange: English Court of Appeal allows extradition to the United States
On 10 December 2021, the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment on the extradition of whistleblower Julian Assange. It accepted the American “assurances” that, in the event of extradition, Assange will neither be subjected to punitive measures (Special Administrative Measures - SAMs) nor held in a high-security prison (ADX, Florence), unless in the future he behaves in a way that would justify such treatment.
Of the five grounds of appeal, the Court upheld only two (grounds 2 and 5): those relating to the assurances provided by the United States. Grounds 1, 3 and 4, which challenged Assange's poor mental state and its assessment by the previous judge, were rejected.
The Court of Appeal therefore upholds the previous judgment on the merits. But in the meantime the United States has submitted its “assurances”, which, as the Court of Appeal itself acknowledges, do not constitute proof that mistreatment will not take place. It nevertheless rules in favour of the United States on the form, since there is no proof to the contrary either! On this more than flimsy basis for a decision, the Court rejected Assange's objections in this respect.
If there is one thing that Assange's revelations should have made the world understand, it is that the United States does not care about its word or about the proper treatment of its enemies.
By Colin Meier, independent citizen journalist and correspondent for Germany at BAM!
https://www.md-universal.eu/images/USA-v-Assange-judgment101221.pdf
Photo source:Image cropped from the original image by duncan c on flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0
