Thread by @richimedhurst

LIVE THREAD: Julian Assange v Govt of USA

Today the High Court will deliver a judgement on the US government's appeal in the #Assange case. The US is appealing a UK judge's decision not to extradite Assange to the US.

I’m attending remotely and will post live updates below.

I am now connected to the court with other journalists. The judgement is expected to be handed down very shortly at 10:15am London time

In January a judge found US prisons conditions to be too oppressive & could drive Assange to suicide.
The US appealed on 5 grounds. It has offered diplomatic assurances which appear to say Assange won't be jailed at ADX Florence or placed in Special Administrative Measures(SAMs)

Another assurance appears to say that Assange can serve a potential sentence in his home country Australia. (Australia would however need to consent to the transfer as well. So far it has not).

At the High Court, Assange's lawyers said these diplomatic assurances can't be trusted, citing David Mendoza's extradition.
I interviewed Mendoza + wrote an article with classified documents from his case, showing the assurances and how they were broken.
richardmedhurst.substack.com/p/mendoza

US prosecutors also challenged the medical evidence provided by key medical expert Prof. Kopelman, arguing that other doctors who testified did not arrive at the exact same conclusions. They also sought to discuss inadmissibility v weight regarding his testimony, relating to

Kopelman's decision not to disclose the relationship between #Assange and Moris. This was used to attack his integrity and duty to the court as an expert witness.
The prosecution argued the judge incorrectly applied the criteria and threshold of Sec 91 under the Extradition Act,

that she gave far too much weight to Kopelman's medical evidence, and that she erred in her overall assessment of #Assange’s risk of suicide. Prosecutors argued that #Assange was not at high risk of suicide.

I attended the High Court proceedings remotely in October and reported live at these threads.

Day 1:

https://twitter.com/richimedhurst/status/1453286771433910272

Day 2:

https://twitter.com/richimedhurst/status/1453651426299817985

I also wrote a full summary of what happened at the High Court: richardmedhurst.substack.com/p/assange-high…

Court has begun. Lord Justice Timothy Holroyde is giving a summary of the #Assange case.

He is speaking about Baraitser's ruling in January, then explaining the appeal and grounds of appeal.

He says the United States offered assurances in a diplomatic note dated 5th February 2021.

BREAKING: The High Court is satisfied with the diplomatic assurances provided by the U.S. that #Assange won't be placed at ADX or under SAMs both pre-trial and after

The respondent (#Assange) is remanded in custody.

Court is over. I typed everything out. Just give me a minute to put this all in a thread for you.

Here is the judgement from the High Court on #Assange:

The court allowed the appeal on the grounds that:

A) The district judge, having decided that the threshold for discharge under Sec 91 of EA 2003 was met, ought to have notified the USA of her provisional view

to afford them the opportunity of offering assurances to the court.

The USA has now provided the UK with a package of assurances addressing DJ Baraitser's findings. Assurances were offered in a diplomatic note dated 5th Feb 2021. The court held it has power to receive and

consider assurances, notwithstanding that they were offered after DJ had already ruled in January.

The court is satisfied that these assurances:

A) exclude the possibility Assange could be placed in Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) or held at max-security in ADX Florence,

either pre-trial or after any conviction, unless after entry of assurances he commits any future act that meet the test for imposition of SAMs.

B) Undertake that the US will consent to an application by #Assange, if he’s convicted, to go to Australia to serve his sentence.

C) Undertake that while #Assange is in US custody, he will receive appropriate clinical and psychological treatment as recommended by qualified medical personnel at the prison where he’s held.

The Court rejected various criticisms of the Assurances on #Assange’s behalf and is satisfied the assurances are sufficient to quell the concerns of Baraitser’s decision to block extradition.

The court therefore allows the appeal and orders that it be remitted to Westminster Magistrate’s court with the direction that the DJ send the case to the Secretary of State (Priti Patel) who will decide whether Assange should be extradited to the USA

The court orders that after considering the written arguments and evidence submitted by all parties, and hearing counsel of the parties on Oct 27 and 28, 2021, it is ordered that:

1) The appeal on grounds 1, 3 and 4 is dismissed,
2) Appeal on grounds 2 and 5 is allowed

3) the order discharging the respondent is quashed
4) The case is remitted to the magistrate’s court
5) The DJ is directed to send the case to the Secretary of State
6) The issue of costs is TBD when extradition proceedings are finalized
7) The respondent is remanded in custody

I will be going live shortly to talk about the High Court ruling. Subscribe so you don't miss it youtube.com/richardmedhurst

I will also have an article up on richardmedhurst.substack.com

My piece on today's High Court judgement, which ruled in favor of the US and against Assange: richardmedhurst.substack.com/p/high-court-r…

I was also live with David Mendoza to discuss. He was extradited to the US in 2009 under similar assurances, which the US later broke.

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