The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has rejected an appeal by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, declaring that he can be extradited to Sweden to face sexual assault charges. Assange has been under house in Britain for the last 18 months since being detained on an international warrant. Assange has been fighting the warrant on the grounds that the Swedish prosecutor who issued it did not have the proper authority to do so, a claim rejected by Swedish authorities and the British courts. Assange also claims the sexual assault charges are politically motivated and trumped up by Western governments angry over his work with Wikileaks.

Even though Assange has now exhausted all his appeals in the UK courts, his lawyers can ask to have the case re-heard based on points of law that were not discussed during the latest trial. Since he seems intent on avoiding (or at least delaying) the extradition at all costs, Assange may seek to have the entire case re-heard before British courts. The actual extradition will be delayed for two weeks, while lawyers decide how to proceed.

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Dashiell Bennett