Assange extradition appeal: lawyers cite new claims of CIA plot to harm him
Lawyers for Julian Assange have cited new allegations that the CIA plotted to kidnap or kill him as “grounds for fearing what will be done to him” if he is extradited to the US to face espionage charges.
The WikiLeaks founder’s legal team also described diplomatic assurances given by US authorities in an effort to overturn a ruling earlier this year against his extradition as meaningless, and not enough to overcome concerns about his risk of suicide were he to be sent to the US.
On the first day of an appeal against the ruling on Wednesday, a lawyer for the US said authorities had promised that Assange would not be held before trial in a top-security “supermax” prison and could also serve a sentence in his native Australia if convicted. Edward Fitzgerald QC, for Assange, said his client was too mentally ill to be extradited, that the US assurances did not remove the risk of him being detained in extreme isolation in the long term, and the risk of suicide remained substantial.
