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Assange vs. America, again
The legal saga of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange neared its end Monday as Britain's High Court considered his final appeal of a U.S. extradition request.
Facing 17 espionage charges and one for computer misuse over the 2010 publication of classified war documents, the Australian native asserts he acted as a journalist and is protected by the First Amendment. His supporters, including members of the Australian Parliament, have called for his release on legal and humanitarian grounds.
Why has this case dragged on so long? In 2012, Assange sought sanctuary in Ecuador's London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden on rape charges. In 2019, Ecuador revoked asylum, and UK authorities detained Assange in Belmarsh Prison for bail evasion. While Sweden retracted its sex crimes accusations, the US filed espionage charges in 2019 and sought Assange’s extradition — a move he has resisted, citing suicide risks and declining health.
If convicted, the 52-year-old Assange faces a possible 175-year sentence, though American officials claim the figure would be much lower. Assange’s spouse Stella argues the case is a political witch hunt, asserting, “If he’s extradited, he will die.”
What’s next? The UK court will hear the case for two days. If it greenlights extradition, Assange’s legal team may try to get an emergency injunction from the European Court of Human Rights.HARD NUMBERS: Rideshare drivers go on strike, Artist holds Picasso hostage for Assange, Putin’s Black Sea warships sink to new low, Porsches idle over Xinjiang abuses, Haiti’s gangs make bank
45 million: An exiled Russian dissident artist in France is threatening to hit a “Dead Man’s Switch,” which will destroy $45 million worth of paintings by Picasso, Rembrandt, Warhol, and others if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange dies in prison. Andrei Molodkin says the threat is an act of protest for free speech. Assange is currently in a maximum security prison in Britain, but next week he faces possible extradition to the US, where human rights groups say his prosecution under espionage laws could pose a threat to freedom of the press.
1,000: About 1,000 Porsche sports cars and SUVs, along with thousands more Audis and a few hundred Bentleys, are currently impounded in US ports after the discovery that the luxury rides contain a small part produced in Xinjiang, a region of Western China where the Chinese government is accused of human rights violations. US laws prohibit the import of any products made with forced labor in Xinjiang.
33: Ukraine says it has now knocked out at least 33% of Russia’s Black Sea naval fleet, following a drone attack this week that sunk the Caesar Kunikov, a landing ship. That brings the total to more than two dozen Russian warships wrecked by Kyiv since Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.
25 million: Haiti’s powerful gangs earn at least $25 million a year from kidnapping alone, says a new report. That, combined with some $20,000 a week in extortion fees and a brisk trade in human organs, have made the organizations “economically autonomous.” A UN-backed police force has yet to deploy to the Caribbean nation, in part because of constitutional obstacles in Kenya, which was tapped to lead the mission.