Could Assange be freed?

What could be the final act in the long-running drama of Julian Assange’s legal battles has opened at the High Court in London. The two-day hearing is considering the Wikileaks founder’s appeal for a review of his extradition to the United States, which was given the go-ahead two years ago and approved by the then-Home Secretary, Priti Patel. 

The US had applied for his extradition on 17 counts of espionage and one of computer misuse in connection with the publication of a large trove of classified material, which included sensitive diplomatic cables and video recordings of US military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Among then, most notoriously, was quite shocking cockpit footage showing the killing of Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, including a Reuters photographer and his driver. 

The case has gone to and fro between the courts. Extradition was initially refused on the grounds that the likely conditions of his detention in the US could precipitate his suicide, then approved after the US appealed and offered certain guarantees about his treatment.