Australia will not  challenge Assange extradition

Australia will not challenge Wikileaks founder Julian Assange's extradition to the United States and has confidence in the British judicial system, a senior government minister said yesterday. A British court issued a formal order Wednesday for the Australian national to be extradited to the United States, where he would face trial for the publication of a trove of secret files relating to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. If convicted, he could face up to 175 years in prison. Following the British court's order, Assange's lawyers have until May 18 to make submissions to Britain's interior minister Priti Patel, with whom the final decision about his extradition rests. A coalition of 25 human rights groups -- including the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders -- has challenged Assange's extradition saying it poses a "grave threat to press freedom both in the US and abroad".