Thread by @StefSimanowitz

#BREAKING: The UK High Court will deliver its decision on Monday morning [24 January] about whether to permit Julian #Assange to appeal the US extradition decision to UK Supreme Court #JulianAssange #FreeAssange #DontExtraditeAssange #FreeAssangeNOW

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1483488604911505414

#BREAKING: #Assange has been refused permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court (SC)

The SC can still decide to grant permission to appeal now that part of the appeal has been certified by the High Court

#JulianAssange has 14 days to request permission to appeal from the SC.

Disgraceful

The High Court have limited what the Supreme Court can consider, i.e. a very specific point of law

“In what circumstances can an appellate court receive assurances from a requesting state which were not before the court of first instance in extradition proceedings?”

The legal question of accepting assurances post substantive hearing was argued in the High Court

Judges had ruled in USA's favour & echoed their refusal on these grounds but accepted that the matter is questionable in the SC

The real issue is that these assurances are worthless

The silver-lining of today's decision is that Assange can now request a hearing before the Supreme Court

The High Court didn't formally grant permission to appeal & seldom do so, but in certifying a point of public importance they effectively have done so bbc.co.uk/news/uk-601083…

To clarify, the High Court very seldom grants permission to appeal because that would bind the SC into hearing the appeal, but by certifying the point & then refusing permission the HC has given the final say to the SC, which is the standard way it’s done.

https://twitter.com/deepa_driver/status/1485572770872401924

We welcome the fact #Assange can now ask to appeal to Supreme Court

But the High Court today dodged its responsibility to ensure that matters of public importance are fully examined & has effectively vetoed consideration of risk of torture & ill treatment
amnesty.org/en/latest/news…

“If #Assange is extradited, then journalists everywhere are going to have to look over their shoulders"

In TWO PARTS, @amnesty’s Simon Crowther explains what today’s Assange why it matters

PART 1: Why extraditing #JulianAssange would have massive & widespread implications👇

If the question of torture & other ill-treatment is not of general public importance, what on Earth is?!!”

PART TWO: @amnesty’s legal adviser
explains what happened in court today & what we can expect next.
#JulianAssange #FreeAssange #FreeAssangeNOW #Assange #AssangeCase

“Football is great, but let’s not forget about Julian Assange”

If the @amnesty lawyer’s explanation made you glaze over, Eric Cantona sums it up more succinctly

This THREAD👇explains why intn’l human rights law matters...drawing an analogy with football

https://twitter.com/StefSimanowitz/status/1480931906724188166

“It’s a good rule of thumb to cast a skeptical eye when there’s general agreement on a complex issue”

@rustyrockets references Chomsky in this #AssangeCase explainer & the fact Obama, Trump & Biden have all treated #Assange in the same way
#FreeAssangeNOW

WATCH tonight’s Belmarsh Tribunal with experts testifying to the crimes at Guantánamo Bay, defending whistleblowers & seeking justice.

With @GuillaumeLong @rogerwaters @yanisvaroufakis @SDonziger @CornelWest @AngelaRichter_ @HorvatSrecko @jeremyscahill👉