US wins bid to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

London: US authorities have won their bid against a court decision that halted the extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

The 50-year-old Australian has been charged in the US under the Espionage Act for his role in publishing classified military and diplomatic cables.

Julian Assange will be extradited from the UK to the US, following US victory in its extradition appeal.

Previously, British court ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be extradited to face charges in the United States, on the basis of assurances given about his treatment there.

Assange was evicted from the embassy in April 2019 and arrested for skipping bail in the U.K. He was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison and is still being detained.

The Australian is wanted on 18 charges in the United States and faces a maximum 175-year sentence if convicted.

The charges are related to the 2010 release by WikiLeaks of 500,000 secret files detailing aspects of military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The US government also alleges that he helped intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal the 2010 documents before exposing confidential sources around the world.

Extradition is the process under which one country can ask another to hand over a suspect to face trial.