In the light of the approaching pivotal UK court hearings for Julian Assange on February 20 and 21, conveners of the Bring Julian Assange Home Parliamentary Group have written to UK Home Secretary James Cleverly asking him to “undertake an urgent, thorough and independent assessment of the risks to Mr Assange’s health and welfare in the event he is extradited to the United States.”
The signatories to the letter remind the Secretary of the UK Supreme Court decision which finds “that courts in the United Kingdom cannot just rely on third party assurances by foreign governments but rather are required to make independent assessments of the risk of persecution to individuals before any order is made removing them from the UK.”
This reasoning clearly has direct relevance to the extradition proceedings involving Julian Assange and the joint decision of Lord Justices Burnett and Holroyde in USA v Assange [2021] EWHC 3313 (Admin). In that case their Lordships expressly relied on the “assurances” of the United States as to Mr Assange’s safety and welfare should he be extradited to the United States for imprisonment and trial. These assurances were not tested, nor was there any evidence of independent assessment as to the basis on which they could be given and relied upon.
They stress that “both the Australian Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have stated publicly that Mr Assange’s case has gone on for too long. This is a position with which we wholeheartedly concur.”
The letter is signed by MPs Andrew Wilkie, Bridget Archer, Josh Wilson and David Shoebridge.
Read the letter here.