Chinese FM spox says 'justice must be served' in Julian Assange case
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The Chinese Foreign Ministry says that everyone is monitoring the human rights situation in Assange's case.
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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian’s Regular Press Conference on March 21, 2024. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China)
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian commented today on the UK court ruling permitting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to keep fighting against his extradition to the United States, stressing that "justice must be served" in his case.
"The whole world is monitoring and sympathizing with the human rights situation and Assange's personal fate. Justice must be served," Lin emphasized in a press briefing.
Read more: Assange extradition breaches US-UK extradition treaty, Snowden says
What did the court rule?
WikiLeaks' Julian Assange was given the chance on March 26 to fight against extradition to the United States after the High Court in London reported that the US needed to give more assurances.
US prosecutors are making an effort to put Assange on trial on 18 counts, all bar one under the Espionage Act, over WikiLeaks' high-profile publication of confidential US military records and diplomatic cables.
Assange's lawyers sought permission in February to challenge Britain's approval of his extradition to the US, arguing his prosecution was politically motivated. In their ruling, two senior judges said he had a real prospect of successfully appealing against extradition on several grounds.
The court has permitted US authorities to offer "satisfactory assurances" regarding Julian Assange's ability to invoke the protections of the First Amendment of the US Constitution and his potential exposure to the death penalty.
Assange will be granted permission to appeal if those assurances were not forthcoming. That said, a further hearing has been scheduled for May 20.
