If extradited and convicted in the United States, Assange faces up to 175 years in prison on 18 espionage and fraud charges.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange on Monday won the right to appeal a decision that would have brought him step closer to being extradited from the U.K. to the U.S. Assange,50, was given permission by the High Court in London to appeal his case to the U.K. Supreme Court. Monday’s ruling means Assange, an Australian citizen, has passed the first hurdle in his bid to overturn a December decision that he could be sent to the U.S., where he is wanted over Wikileaks ‘ publication of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011. Assange remains in custody at London’s high-security Belmarsh prison pending his extradition battle. If extradited and convicted in the United States, Assange faces up to 175 years in prison on 18 charges under the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. “Make no mistake, we won today in court,” Assange’s fiancee, Stella Moris, said outside the courthouse on Monday, the Associated Press reported. “We will fight this until Julian is free.
