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Ruling, which overturns an earlier decision, means Assange is now closer to being extradited from a British prison to the US.
The United States government has won an appeal at Britain’s High Court over the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Friday’s ruling, which overturns an earlier decision, means 50-year-old Assange is now closer to being extradited from London’s high-security Belmarsh Prison to the US, where he would face spying charges over WikiLeaks’ publication of secret military documents a decade ago.
A lower court earlier this year refused the American request to extradite Assange to the US, saying that Assange’s mental health was too fragile to withstand the US judicial system.
The United States appealed, challenging the notion that Assange’s mental health made him too vulnerable.
A lawyer working for the US, James Lewis, said Assange “has no history of serious and enduring mental illness” and does not meet the threshold of being so ill that he cannot resist harming himself.
US authorities have told British judges that if they agree to extradite Assange, he could serve any US prison sentence he receives in his native Australia.
US prosecutors have indicted Assange on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over WikiLeaks’ publication of thousands of leaked military and diplomatic documents.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison, although Lewis said “the longest sentence ever imposed for this offence is 63 months.”
The saga is far from over, however, as the court ruling handed down Friday is also likely to be appealed.
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