Julian Assange Gets Bad News in Terms of His Extradition

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may finally be extradited to the U.S. after years of international legal battles. According to a report by CNN, U.S. authorities have now won their bid to overturn a British judge's ruling which has protected Assange and allowed him to stay in his most recent home of the U.K. This means the 50-year-old whistleblower may finally face the charges brought against him for publishing classified U.S. military intelligence in 2010.

Assange has been living in prison in the U.K., where a judge ruled back in January that he could not be extradited because it "would be oppressive" to the journalist. Assange's state of mental health was heavily cited in the ruling, which noted that he was "severely or moderately clinically depressed," and that the "special administrative measures" he would be subjected to in the U.S. would take a toll on him. However, on Friday two senior judges overruled this decision and declared that Assange could be sent back to the U.S. where they believe he will receive a "fair trial."

Assange's lawyers issued a statement saying that they would appeal this decision to the U.K.'s Supreme Court within 14 days. They also noted that Assange has other open appeal cases which have not yet been heard, including one to question the political motivation of the United States' extradition request, and whether or not it impedes Assange's right to free speech.

The U.K. courts' change of heart follows a special memo sent by the U.S. after Assange's extradition was denied the first time around. It made four promises for the journalist: that he would not be imprisoned under "special administrative measures," that he would not be held at a maximum security prison unless sentenced there, that the U.S. would "consent" to an an application to serve any prospective sentence in Australia if Assange submitted one, and that Assange would receive "appropriate clinical and psychological treatment" while in the U.S.' custody.

The two senior judges said that these "assurances" satisfied the complaints of their colleague back in January, but the extradition is still not guaranteed. The case will now go back to a district court where judges have been advised to send the case on to the U.K. Home Secretary, who will most likely make the final decision. Assange remains in a British prison.