Assange wins temporary reprieve

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange can continue his fight against extradition to the United States after the High Court in London ruled yesterday he should be allowed to appeal against it unless the US promises he will not face the death penalty. US prosecutors are seeking to put Assange, 52, on trial on 18 counts, all bar one under the Espionage Act, over WikiLeaks' high-profile release of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables. Assange's lawyers in February sought permission to challenge Britain's approval of his extradition. In the ruling, two senior judges said he had a real prospect of successfully appealing against extradition on a number of grounds. The court said that Assange arguably would not be entitled to rely on the First Amendment right to free speech as a non-US national and that he could later be charged with a capital offence, meaning it would be unlawful to extradite him. British ministers "had an explicit statutory obligation not to order the applicant's extradition if he could be sentenced to death for the offence concerned, or if he could be charged with an extradition offence ... in respect of which a sentence of death could be imposed," the judges said.