Countdown To Day X: Assange & The 'Political Offense' Exception

Julian Assange and his legal team contend that District Court Judge Vanessa Baraitser erred by failing to recognize that it was an “abuse of process” for the U.S. to seek Assange's extradition.

Editor’s Note: Ahead of a major appeal hearing before the British High Court of Justice on February 20 and 21, the “Countdown To Day X” series will highlight key aspects of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s appeal against extradition to the United States.

The legal team for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange contends that District Court Judge Vanessa Baraitser erred by failing to recognize that it was an “abuse of process” for the United States government to seek Assange’s extradition for political offenses. They hope the British High Court of Justice will reconsider this aspect of the case.

Individuals accused of treason, sedition, or espionage have historically been protected from extradition because those offenses involve acts directed at a particular government. Such offenses are viewed in international law as “pure political offenses” and not “ordinary crimes.”

Seventeen of the 18 charges against Assange allege that he violated the U.S. Espionage Act. The eighteenth charge accuses him of conspiracy to commit a computer intrusion.

Assange’s defense previously stated [PDF], “The indictment itself is framed to allege conduct whose objective was ‘to obtain receive and disclose national defense information’ and the repeated refrain is that the [intent or knowledge of wrongdoing] of Julian Assange was that ‘he had reason to believe that the information was to be used to the injury of the United States or the advantage of any foreign nation.’”

Read the full article at The Dissenter.