Political | Process

Westminster Magistrates Court formally approved Assange’s extradition in a brief seven-minute hearing and sent documents over to the British government for final approval.

The extradition order will need final approval from British Home Secretary Priti Patel andAssange, who joined the hearing virtually, has four weeks to make submissions to Patel, who must approve or reject the U.S. government’s request.

Assange, who has so far halted his extradition through the courts, still has the right to appeal at the High Court, though this will not be heard until after Patel has made a decision.

Mark Summers, who is representing Assange, said there is “fresh evidence” his legal team will put to Patel in the next few weeks regarding U.S. sentencing and conditions, according to the Evening Standard and the Guardian.

Assange faces criminal espionage charges in the U.S. over WikiLeaks’ publication of hundreds of thousands of leaked classified documents relating to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He denies wrongdoing and has fought extradition in London for years, first in Ecuador’s embassy for seven years to avoid extradition to Sweden on allegations of rape and sexual assault and since 2019 in the high-security Belmarsh Prison after Ecuador revoked his diplomatic status.

A British judge initially ruled in favor of Assange on grounds a U.S. extradition request would place him at risk of harming himself in the harsh American prison conditions. U.S. authorities denied Assange would be at risk and assured Britain he would be treated well and in December the U.K.’s High Court overturned the decision.

In March, the U.K.’s highest court, the Supreme Court, refused Assange permission to appeal the lower court’s ruling in favor of extradition.