Julian Assange faces a further wait to find out whether his final UK bid to appeal over his extradition to the United States can go ahead at the High Court. Speaking outside the High Court in London, Stella Assange, Julian's wife, says she is "astounded" by the decision, speaking after the judgment. She said: "What the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States... send a letter saying it's all OK. I find this astounding." Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 Today's decision is astounding.
00:05 The courts recognize that Julian is exposed to a flagrant denial of his freedom of expression rights,
00:18 that he is being discriminated against on the basis of his nationality, an Australian,
00:25 and that he remains exposed to the death penalty.
00:30 And yet, what the courts have done has been to invite a political intervention from the United States
00:38 to send a letter saying it's all okay.
00:43 I find this astounding.
00:47 Five years into this case, the United States has managed to show the court that their case remains an attack on press freedom, an attack on Julian's life.
01:03 What the courts haven't agreed to look at is the evidence that the United States has plotted to assassinate Julian, to kidnap him,
01:18 because if it acknowledges that, then of course he can't be sent to the United States.
01:30 Julian is a political prisoner, he is a journalist, and he is being persecuted because he exposed the true cost of war in human lives.
01:45 This case is a retribution, it is a signal to all of you that if you expose the interests that are driving war, they will come after you.
02:02 They will put you in prison and they will try to kill you.
02:07 Julian is just a few days away from the fifth anniversary of his arrest and imprisonment in Belmarsh Prison.
02:18 He has been in Belmarsh for five years without conviction, and the charges against him are to punish him for publishing the truth,
02:30 for publishing evidence of the war crimes committed by the country that is trying to extradite him.
02:38 Now the UK courts have invited the United States to issue assurances.
02:43 The Biden administration should not issue assurances, they should drop this shameful case that should never have been brought.
02:50 Julian should never have been imprisoned for a single day. This is a shame on every democracy.
02:56 Julian is a political prisoner, he is a publisher, and he is being published for expressing his political opinion,
03:06 for expressing freedom of the press in its purest form.
03:13 Free Julian. I ask everyone to rally behind him and call for his freedom, call for the Biden administration to drop the case
03:23 and support House Resolution 934 before the US Congress to drop this case.