The US government has pursued Assange’s extradition on espionage charges since WikiLeaks published classified US military cables in 2010 and 2011Australia’s deputy prime minister has urged Britain not to allow Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States, arguing that he should instead be tried in the UK or returned to Australia. In a robust intervention that breaks with the official position of his government, Barnaby Joyce said in an article published in national newspapers today: “Why is he [Assange] to be extradited to the US? If he insulted the Koran, would he be extradited to Saudi Arabia?”SponsoredJoyce’s intervention on behalf of the WikiLeaks founder, who is Australian, came four days after the High Court in London overturned a decision that had prevented the extradition. Judges ordered that the case be remitted to Westminster magistrates’ court with a direction that the home secretary,

Source: The Times December 15, 2021 00:46 UTC