Julian Assange Extradition Appeal Attempt Dismissed

Julian Assange’s legal team has suffered defeat in their bid to ask the court to re-start an appeal against extradition. Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, had asked the seven member Supreme Court panel of the United Kingdom to re-open his appeal proceedings against his extradition to Sweden. The Swedish authorities require the infamous Assange for questioning in a sex crime.

In 2010, two women that were volunteering at Assange’s Wikileaks had accused the controversial figure of rape and sexual assault. The authorities have not filed any charges in Sweden but they still want to talk to Assange about the accusations. Assange has said that the sex was not forced and he had the consensus of the female. He has gone further and stated that the reason for the authorities hounding him is political.

Assange shot to notoriety when his website Wikileaks published diplomatic cable from around the world that showed what many major players in business and government discussed behind closed doors. The revelations in the leaked documents were sufficient to embarrass many powerful people around the world.

Assange and his legal council had received a massive blow when a British court poured cold water on his claim that a European arrest warrant for his extradition was invalid. Assange’s lawyer then requested an appeal by stating that a legal point which was important to the case had not been brought to the courts attention. However, the court denied the request and said it was “without merit”.

Assange now has fifteen days before extradition proceedings start. After the grace period, authorities will be given 10 days to move Assange to Sweden where he will face questioning. The Wikileaks founder has very few options left that can help him fight his removal to Sweden. One option that seems possible is an appeal before June 28 to the Strasbourg  European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).