UK court to rule on Julian Assange extradition appeal today

London’s High Court will today hold a hearing to consider fresh assurances provided by the United States that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will be able to rely on the First Amendment protections for freedom of speech and will not face the death penalty if extradited from Britain to the U.S.

The hearing will determine if Assange is being deported to the US, or if he can have an appeal in Britain.

Who is Assange?

Assange, 52, is wanted by US prosecutors on 18 charges, all bar one under the Espionage Act, over WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of confidential U.S. military records and secret diplomatic cables.

In March, the High Court provisionally granted Assange permission to appeal his extradition. However, the court indicated that if the US provided satisfactory assurances that Assange’s rights would be protected, including no death penalty and First Amendment rights during the trial, the appeal might not be necessary.

Those submissions were subsequently delivered in April and will be the focus of Monday’s hearings, with Stella Assange labelling the guarantees as “weasel words.”