Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Wednesday criticised British legal proceedings about his potential extradition to the United States, but said they remained hopeful ahead of a key hearing next week.
The High Court in London has asked the US government to provide further 鈥榓ssurances鈥� on Assange鈥檚 treatment if he was sent there to face charges over WikiLeaks鈥� 2010 release of secret military and diplomatic files.
Its judges are due to hold a hearing on Monday and a decision on whether or not to grant Assange a final appeal before the UK courts could be made the same day or at a later date.
If his request fails, he risks being quickly extradited, but his supporters insisted Wednesday that they would then refer his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
鈥楾hat is an exceptional measure. It鈥檚 not a guaranteed right of appeal,鈥� Assange鈥檚 lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, told a London news conference.
Washington has spent years trying to extradite the 52-year-old Australian citizen to stand trial for the release of hundreds of thousands of classified documents relating to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among them was a video showing US Apache helicopters killing civilians, including two Reuters journalists, in Iraq in July 2007.
They were leaked by former US soldier Chelsea Manning, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for violating the US Espionage Act. She was released in 2017 after then-president Barack Obama commuted her sentence.
Assange faces up to 175 years in prison if convicted under the same act in the United States.
But Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks鈥� editor-in-chief, told reporters: 鈥業t is abundantly clear of course that the process in the court in the United Kingdom is corrupt. The case is rigged against Julian.
鈥業 know these are harsh words and words that we usually have for courts in non-European countries, not Western countries. But I鈥檝e come to the opinion that that is absolutely the case,鈥� he added.
Assange has suffered a string of court losses in the long-running legal saga, which his supporters see as a battle for media freedom.
UK judges in March asked Washington to allay concerns that Assange鈥檚 trial would be prejudiced because he is not a US citizen and that he could face the death penalty if convicted.
Assange鈥檚 wife, Stella Assange, said last month that the United States had issued 鈥榓 non-assurance in relation to the First Amendment鈥�, which protects freedom of speech, and 鈥榓 standard assurance in relation to the death penalty鈥�.
Her husband鈥檚 supporters have dismissed America鈥檚 response.
She told reporters Wednesday that she hopes Julian Assange will be present at Monday鈥檚 hearing but added that she did not think the judges will rule in his favour.
鈥業 don鈥檛 expect a rational outcome from the courts, I鈥檓 afraid to say,鈥� she said.
Assange has been held at a high-security prison in southeast London since 2019. His supporters say his health is fragile and the Council of Europe this week said it was concerned about his treatment.
Before going to prison, Assange spent seven years holed up in Ecuador鈥檚 London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault which were later dropped.
The United States indicted Assange multiple times between 2018 and 2020 but President Joe Biden has faced persistent domestic and international pressure to drop the case filed under his predecessor Donald Trump.
Major media organisations, press freedom advocates and the Australian parliament have all denounced the prosecution under the 1917 Espionage Act, which has never been used over the publishing of classified information.
Biden indicated recently that the US was considering a request from Australia to drop the charges.
鈥楶resident Biden has the chance still to be the president who put an end to this, who acted in the interest of press freedom in journalism,鈥� said Rebecca Vincent, of Reporters Without Borders.